H2O: Just Add Survival 2: Race Against Time
by AlyssaHolloway
Summary: A year after the shipwreck that changed their lives, Dr. Denman has returned, forcing the girls to run. When they escape to Sirena Island, they discover that an even worse comet is heading towards Earth. Will they be able to stop it before it's too late?
1. Prologue and Author's Notes

H2O: Just Add Survival 2: Race Against Time

_**Author's Notes!**_

_**Hey, guys, it's me, Alyssa! Anyway, I just wanted to say some stuff. First of all, if you haven't read H2O: Just Add Survival 1, go read it or nothing will make sense! Second of all, I have decided to make H2O: Just Add Survival 3! (It will involve time-travel, hint, hint) Also, since the prologue is short, I'm putting little character profiles here to fill in some space.**_

_The Mermaids:_

_Emma "Em" Gilbert: 19 years old, majoring in English, leader of the original trio of mermaids (and Bella, of course). She is very organized and loves responsibility. Voted Most Likely to Succeed in high school._

_Cleo Setori: 19 years old, majoring in Biology, dolphin trainer at the local marine park. Currently in a relationship with Lewis McCartney. She used to be shy, but is now outgoing. Voted Teacher's Pet in high school._

_Rikki Chadwick: 19 years old, majoring in Forensics, little bit of a rebel. Used to date Zane Bennett until he started going out with Sophie Benjamin. She enjoys hanging out at Mako Island and annoying all of her friends. Voted Worst Driver in high school._

_Isabella "Bella" Hartley: 19 years old, majoring in Music and Drama, musical one of the group. Currently in a relationship with Will Benjamin. Recently, both she and Will bought Rikki's and have renovated it into one of the hottest cafes in town. (It is still named Rikki's.) Voted Best Smile in high school._

_Natalie "Nat" DeGrand: 18 years old, going to major in U.S. History, lives in Florida. She is going to attend UCLA in the fall so she can be close to Andrea. Nat is very kind to her friends. Voted Most Changed in high school._

_Andrea Wilkens: 11 years old, lives in California with Natalie, orphaned when she was 8. She used to live on a cruise ship with her brother, but decided to live with Natalie after deciding to never step on another ship again. She is the newest mermaid to the group._

_The Boyfriends:_

_Lewis McCartney: 19 years old, majoring in Biology, first one to know about the original trio of mermaids. In a relationship with Cleo Setori. He has tried and failed to discover the secret behind their powers, so he has just accepted that it was magic._

_Ash Dove: 19 years old, majoring in Journalism, member of the equestrian team at his college. In a relationship with Emma Gilbert. He found out about Emma's secret two years ago right before he left the Gold Coast to join a special horse program in Kentucky. He just recently moved back to Australia to start college._

_Will Benjamin: 19 years old, majoring in Tourism, most recent guy to find out about the girls' secret. In a relationship with Bella Hartley. He is a successful free diver, but is now using his talents to swim with Bella instead of competing. Will and Bella successfully run Rikki's Café in their free time._

_Alexander "Alex" Wilkens: 25 years old, steward on the cruise ship _Siren of the Pacific II_, does not know about his sister's secret. Natalie has a slight crush on him. He works a lot on the ship and tries to visit his little sister Andrea as much as possible._

_The Enemies:_

_Dr. Linda Denman: evil scientist that almost revealed the girls' secret four years ago. She recently returned to the Gold Coast, not willing to let go of her old experiment. Whether or not she will is unknown._

_Sophie Benjamin: 20 years old and overall jerk who steals Zane from Rikki and is an enormous pest. __**(A/N: I really despise Sophie, even though she's more of a rival than an enemy. I also used to like 'Zikki' until Zane broke up with Rikki in season 3 so I think that she's better off alone than with him. P.S. Rikki will get a boyfriend in H2O: Just Add Survival 3!) **__Sophie attends college in Sydney with Zane, who is her boyfriend. She decided to give up Rikki's after Zane went broke and let Will and Bella buy it._

_**Now on to the prologue!**_

Early June, 1650

Somewhere in the South Pacific

**FLASH! **A blur streaked through the night sky. It was a comet, a comet that had never been seen by Earth before. It wasn't going to hit anything; it was simply passing right over the atmosphere.

As it passed over a shallow part of the sea, three shrub sized pieces of rock got knocked off, hitting the water. A blue light flooded the sky when they hit, brightening the sky in California, a five day journey by boat.

Four hundred years passed, the magic inside the crystals of the rocks causing the quick formation of three small islands. One was the island that Ashley, and eventually the rest of the girls, washed up on. Another one was the first island Bella wrecked on. The final one was Emma's island….

Present Day

Once again, the comet was heading towards Earth. Now, this was not Eva's comet. It was even more massive than that comet. If this comet hit Earth, it would be pulled to three islands, not just one. The force of the hit would destroy half the world in a matter of minutes. There wasn't much time until it happened….


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

June 3, 2:30 pm

Gold Coast, Australia

Two blurs streaked through the water, heading for Mako Island. These blurs were, of course, Emma and Rikki. Right behind them was their friends Cleo and Bella. All four were racing to the Mako Island moonpool. Rikki pushed herself ahead of Emma, being the first one in the underwater tunnel. She laughed to herself.

Emma surfaced then, her eyes narrowing. "You cut me off."

"No I didn't! I pushed ahead of you, which is legal."

"Whatever." Bella and Cleo appeared. "We can't stay here long. We have to meet Natalie and Andrea at the airport."

"Don't be a fun sucker." Rikki said while floating on her back. "Nat can drive, can't she?"

"Yes, but a rental car is too expensive. Besides, we want to spend as much time as possible with them, right?" Bella asked, trying to be the peacemaker.

"Okay, I guess you're right." Rikki admitted.

"Let's go back to the mainland." Cleo said with a grin. "Maybe I'll beat you there."

"Not on your life!" Rikki yelled before diving under. Everyone else rolled their eyes and smiled before following her.

~*O*~

Natalie DeGrand leaned back in her uncomfortable airplane seat, trying to find a slight comfy spot. Andrea Wilkens, her unbiological sister, smiled at her. "Having some trouble?" she asked teasingly.

"Ha, ha, you're a regular comedian." Nat said sarcastically. She instantly felt bad. _Darn my emotions!_ "Sorry, sis."

"You know, you could be my real sis if you marry Alex." Andrea said in a sing song voice. Nat glared at her.

"Oh, just shut up. I don't have a chance with your brother." Natalie hit her gently with a cruddy airplane pillow.

"You never know…" Andrea trailed off. "I wonder how far it is until we reach Australia."

"About another hour," a blond woman across the aisle said. "I'm heading there myself. Which part are you going to?"

"The Gold Coast." Natalie said politely. "We have friends that we are visiting."

"Oh, now I see why you look so familiar. You're Natalie DeGrand, aren't you? And the other young lady must be Andrea Wilkens, am I right?"

"Yes, that's who we are." Andrea put in. "We're going to visit the other four girls for the one year anniversary of the shipwreck."

"Andrea, don't be so specific." Natalie hissed.

"It's nice to meet you," the woman said. "I'm Dr. Linda Denman. I'm a marine biologist and hoping to set up a new lab on the Gold Coast. There's one thing that has been bothering me for the past year."

"What?" Natalie asked, suddenly realizing who the doctor was. _It's that crazy psycho lady that almost dissected my friends! Oh my gosh!_

"You girls had no idea where you were for almost three months? And you couldn't find the island again?"

"No," Natalie said quickly so Andrea couldn't give away anything else. "We never knew the longitude and latitude, and there weren't any landmarks that we could use to help us find it."

Dr. Denman seemed to accept this, making Natalie relieved. Meanwhile, Andrea had just figured out who Linda Denman was, freaking her out. She leaned her head against the window, regretting what she had said. _What if she finds out that Rikki, Cleo, and Emma are mermaids again? And what about Bella? _She closed her eyes and fell asleep. Next thing she knew, Natalie was shaking her.

"Andrea, wake up! We're here!"

~*O*~

3:45 pm

Brisbane Airport, Australia

Cleo stood on her tiptoes, trying to see over the crowds of people in the busy airport. "See anything yet?" Bella asked.

"No, I don't. They should be on their way; their plane was supposed to land at three-thirty." Cleo said worriedly.

"Don't freak out, Cleo." Rikki said. "Planes are always late."

Just then, Cleo caught a glimpse of long auburn hair at the baggage area. She peered at the person and realized who it was. "There's Natalie!" she said, pointing. The four girls went running through people, almost trampling a few of them.

"Natalie!" Emma yelled. Nat looked up and smiled at her four friends running towards her.

"Hey, guys!" Natalie cried as she was drawn into a group hug. "Andrea, get over here!" The blond girl grabbed her suitcase and headed over to her friends. Bella pulled her into the hug.

"Oh my gosh, it's so great to see you again!" Cleo said happily.

"Okay, guys…can't…breathe." Andrea said breathlessly. The four Australian girls let go of the other two. Natalie sunk down onto a nearby bench and began trembling. Rikki, Bella, Emma, and Cleo immediately became concerned.

"Nat, what's wrong?" Emma said, sitting down next to her friend.

"It's…it's…" Natalie choked on the words, a lump in her throat preventing them from coming out of her lips.

"It's what?" Rikki said impatiently.

"It's Dr. Denman. She's back." Nat pointed towards the boarding area where she had seen the doctor meet with someone. Emma, Cleo, and Rikki instantly went white. Cleo fainted into Bella's arms.

"We need to get out of here, now." Rikki said bluntly. "Nat, help Bella with Cleo. I'll get your bag. Em, go with Andrea and get in your car. I'll meet you there. Bella, do you think you can get Cleo into your car with Nat's help?" Bella nodded and Nat helped her support Cleo. Emma got Andrea's wrist and dragged her in the direction of the parking lot.

Rikki quickly found the bag with Natalie's name on it and began pulling it away. A hand touched her shoulder, making Rikki jump a foot and almost scream. "Hello, Rikki, it's good to see you again." Rikki turned around and was face to face with a person that had haunted her dreams for months.

"Dr. Denman." Rikki said coldly. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm setting up a new lab at the Gold Coast. Isn't that where you live?"

"Sorry, I'm not allowed to give my address to strangers." Rikki retorted. She picked up Natalie's suitcase and hurried away to the parking lot. Emma squealed up to the curb in her Chrysler Sebring.

"Rikki, get in!" Andrea yelled from the backseat. Rikki jumped into the passenger seat and Emma started leaving at the speed limit.

"Em, she might catch up to us!" Rikki pushed Emma's foot away from the gas pedal and floored it. The Sebring went speeding away while Dr. Denman watched from the glass window by the door.

"I want to know everything about those American girls," she said as she looked in the direction of the speeding car. "And everything about the Australians, too." She looked down at the folder in her hand. _**Just Add Water **_was__in bold on the cover.

"Are you sure about this, Dr. Denman?" the man beside her said. "Maybe you need to let go of your old experiment."

The blond woman hit him with the manila folder. "I'm not ready to let go," she said in a hard voice. "Go get the car." The man complied, meekly leaving for the parking lot. "Well, girls, maybe you did lie to me." Dr. Denman looked at the photo that had flipped her world upside down. The picture of Rikki, Emma, and Cleo as mermaids.

_**End of Chapter 1! So, what do you guys think? Dr. Denman has returned and so have Nat and Andrea. Will Dr. Denman discover their secret? And will Rikki get a speeding ticket? :D And will the evil scientist bring back her old experiment? Find out in the next "episode" of H2O: JAS: Season 2!**_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

June 3, 5:35 pm

Emma, Cleo, Bella, Rikki, Natalie, and Andrea came running into Rikki's Café. "Will, close up shop. Now." Bella said flatly. Will caught the sense of fear in his girlfriend's voice and shooed the few customers out.

"What's wrong?" he said nervously.

"Dr. Denman is back." Natalie said while tears streamed down her face.

Will leaned against the counter and let out a deep breath, struggling to breathe normally. "She's back?" he asked, hoping that it wasn't true.

"Yes, and she's building a new lab." Rikki said quietly. Just hearing the word "lab" struck fear into the hearts of the six mermaids.

"Does she know about you?" Will asked gently.

"No, but…" Bella started to say.

"But, nothing. If she doesn't know about you all being mermaids, it doesn't matter. Just go and have fun for the next few weeks. You girls deserve it."

The girls went and sat at a table and Will got them some smoothies. Then, he left so the others could have some privacy. "So, what do we want to do for the next two weeks?" Emma asked, trying to change the subject.

"I definitely want to see Mako Island." Natalie said. "It seems very interesting."

"Okay, so there's that. What else?"

"What if we went to visit Sirena Island?" Andrea suggested.

"It'd take us two weeks to take a boat out there." Rikki put in. "Maybe another time." Andrea nodded, a little upset.

"How about we go visit Mako right now?" Cleo asked. "Just to get our minds off of the Denman situation." Everyone agreed and they started swimming towards Bella, Emma, Cleo and Rikki's sanctuary.

~*O*~

The mermaids didn't really play much while they swam because they were too busy looking for mermaid traps or cameras. Even though they saw none, the friends were still cautious when they swam up the tunnel to the moonpool. Luckily, the evil doctor wasn't there.

"This is scary." Andrea said. "I mean, we might be hunted down like wild animals."

"That's what it's basically like." Emma admitted.

The mermaids sat in silence, soaking in that thought. "What if we ran away?" Cleo said quickly. "Run away so no one could find us. We could get false identities, new addresses, and new phone numbers. No one would know where we are."

"Cleo, this isn't the Witness Protection Program." Rikki said angrily. "This is real life. If we tried to do that, Dr. Denman would track us down and capture us. We're going to be guinea pigs either way."

"Rikki, you're not helping!" Bella yelled, splashing her. Rikki wiped the saltwater out of her eyes. She then heard a familiar voice coming from above them.

"It's her!" Rikki shrieked. The moonpool turned into chaos, but somehow Andrea barreled through first. Then, it went Cleo, Bella, Natalie, Emma, and finally Rikki. But, unfortunately Dr. Denman came in right as Rikki went under. She gasped when she saw a red fin go into the tunnel. Her eyes grew wide before going to an evil smirk.

"They're back," she whispered.

~*O*~

Linda Denman had searched everywhere around the strange pool and the surrounding coral reef and found no sign of any mermaids. Angered that they had escaped her, she headed back to the mainland to search for the six girls. _They won't be able to run now. _She went to her assistants (even though they were more like henchmen).

"Do you have more information for me?"

"Yes," the man who she had hit said. (His real name was Kyle.) "Here you go." Kyle handed her a manila folder. "Miss DeGrand used to be a diver but has recently quit because of an 'injury'."

Dr. Denman smiled. "That sounds promising. Anything on Andrea Wilkens?"

"She used to live on a cruise ship with her brother, but has decided to move in with Natalie DeGrand because 'I never want to step on another cruise ship again after the accident that has scared me for life.'"

"Okay, so that's pretty good proof that these girls are scared of water and/or mermaids. Now, it's time to prove it." Dr. Denman, Kyle, and two other "assistants" named Cody and Olivia stepped onto the yacht that the doctor had made into a floating lab. It was named _Denman's Pride._ The doctor and her assistants went to the main cabin and headed for the mainland.

"It's time to catch some fish." Dr. Denman said coldly.

~*O*~

The six mermaids sat shaking inside Rikki's. Andrea was trembling so much that Emma was afraid that the young girl would go into shock. She put an arm around Andrea and tried to comfort her.

"It's all my fault." Natalie moaned. "I never should have told her where we were going." She banged her head against the wall. Bella gently led her back to the table.

"It's okay, Nat," Bella said soothingly. None of the boys were there since they had decided to take a last minute fishing trip for a few days. So, the girls were alone with their problems. Rikki kept looking out the window nervously, as if she was expecting the evil scientist to come knocking on the café's door.

"The door is locked, right?" Rikki asked for the third time.

"Yes, Rikki, it's locked." Bella said. "Why don't you come sit down?"

"I can't, I'm too shook up." The blond said before peeking around the curtain again. Rikki leaned against the cool window, begging to God that the doctor wouldn't find them. _Please, Lord, Natalie, Andrea, and Bella don't deserve this pain that I, Emma, and Cleo went through. Please don't force them to have the same thing happen to them. _Silent tears streamed down her face.

_If that woman finds us, I'll distract her so the others can get away. Even if I get captured, it would be worth it. _Just then, she saw headlights pulling into the parking lot. Rikki screamed. "She's here!"

"There's no way out except the front door!" Bella yelled, fear showing in her pale blue eyes. The door then got kicked in, allowing Dr. Denman and three other people to come inside.

"Hello, girls." Dr. Denman said in a fake friendly voice. "How are you this evening?"

"Get out of my café." Bella said. "I could have you arrested for breaking and entering."

"Oh, but I wondered if you all would like to go for a late night swim. I think that that would be very nice."

"What do you want from us?" Cleo asked, frightened by the presence of the woman.

"Nothing, Cleo, except this!" With that, one of Dr. Denman's henchmen sprayed them all with a garden hose.

"Natalie, look out!" Rikki yelled as she fell as a mermaid. Cleo, Emma, and Andrea also fell. Natalie tried to run with Bella, but they both got hit. Natalie wasn't about to give up though.

"Sorry, café," she whispered as she threw out her hand. The earth began to shake, knocking all of the henchmen down. Cleo created wind, drying off all of the mermaids. Dr. Denman wasn't finished yet, though. She grabbed Andrea and put a gun to the younger girl's head.

"Well, girls, it seems that I hold all the cards now," the scientist said. Andrea tried to struggle, but Dr. Denman was much stronger. "Now, come with me, or your little friend will have a bullet scarring her pretty face."

The five other girls stared in fear before Andrea bit down on the woman's arm. "Run!" she screamed. "Run before it's too late!"

Emma, Natalie, Cleo, Bella, and Rikki obeyed, running out the front door. Andrea tried to run, but the doctor sprayed her with the hose, causing Andrea to fall with a tail. "Sorry, darling, but you're coming with me." Kyle and Cody had recovered from Natalie's earthquake and they picked up Andrea. She struggled, but Dr. Denman put a cloth over her face, knocking her out.

"Throw her in the trunk and take her back to the yacht." Dr. Denman said tiredly. "We'll deal with the others later." The two men complied and Olivia followed them. Dr. Denman got in the front seat and they drove back to the marina, taking their prize with them…

~*O*~

The five girls ran through the darkness to the beach, where they waited for Dr. Denman and her team to leave. As the headlights went away, Emma stood up and began to count. "Okay, I'm here, who else made it?"

"Cleo and I did." Natalie said, pointing to both of them.

"I'm over here." Bella groaned. "I fell down the hill back there, but I'll live."

"Rikki, where are you?" Emma asked.

"Right behind you." Rikki said, causing Emma to jump a foot.

"Don't scare me like that!" Emma scolded. "Andrea, it's safe. You can come out now." There was no sign of the other girl. "Andrea?"

Everyone else started calling her name, but there was no answer. Rikki climbed up the hill to Rikki's and gasped.

"You guys, I found Andrea's headband!" The others ran to where Rikki was. Natalie almost passed out.

"Oh, crap…" Natalie trailed off. "Denman got her."

Cleo was sniffing the air. "I smell chloroform. Andrea must've been knocked out, then put in their car."

"I'll kill them." Natalie said bluntly. "If they hurt her, I'll kill them. I promised her brother that I would take care of Andrea, but I didn't!" She began to cry.

"Well, it's no use hanging around here." Bella said glumly. "Denman might come back looking for us. I have a spare key to Will's shed; we could stay there for now."

The other four nodded in agreement and they all got into Rikki's car and headed to the shed. As soon as Rikki turned on the ignition, "If I Die Young" came pouring out of the speakers. Everyone began sobbing.

_If I die young, bury me in satin_

_Lay me down on a bed of roses_

_Sink me in the river at dawn_

_Send me away with the words of a love song…_

_**Uh oh, Andrea's been captured! What will the girls do? Will they be able to rescue their friend before it's too late? You'll have to wait and see…**_

_**So, what does everyone think of the first two chapters? I wanted to make the sequel even better than the first. You know, some movies make a sequel and they totally end up being worse than the first and you think that it was a waste of time. I didn't want that to happen to H2O: Just Add Survival, so I pulled out all the stops on this sequel. I hope you all are enjoying it!**_


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

June 4, 6:49 am

Andrea woke up in a clear glass tank filled with water. _Where am I? What happened last night? _Her head hurt and she almost fainted from the pain. _Whatever I was knocked out with must give you headaches. _She looked up at the top of the tank and saw a steel door. Andrea reached up, but she couldn't touch it. A sharp pain resounded from her left arm.

She looked down and found that her left wrist was handcuffed to the glass wall. If she pulled on it too hard, her arm was yanked back by the handcuff. She tried to scream in frustration, but her mouth filled with saltwater instead. Andrea looked up at the steel door again and sighed to herself. _No way of getting out of this funhouse. _

Peering out of the tank, she was horrified to see five identical tanks surrounding the room. She leaned back against the wall and slid to the bottom, almost yanking her arm out of its socket. Blood seeped out of a small cut in her wrist, causing it to burn from the salty water. Andrea screamed from the pain inside her mind.

Dr. Denman walked into the room, smiling evilly at Andrea. "There's my little prize." Andrea glared at the woman. _Crazy psycho jerk! I should explode your head off! _"Now, now, don't mess up that pretty face of yours. I won't do anything to you until I have your friends." She pointed to the other tanks. "In fact, I might kill you if they don't have the common sense to submit to me."

Andrea tried to scream, _Go ahead! I have nothing else to look forward to anyway! _But, her mouth filled up with water instead. Dr. Denman looked at her quizzically.

"You can't speak underwater?" the doctor asked, shocked. She scribbled something on her clipboard.

Andrea shook her head and turned away, crying silently. _I'm not your guinea pig!_ Her eyes burned from the salt entering her eyes from the tears.

"I'll leave you alone for now, Andrea. But, you don't have much time left." Dr. Denman laughed as she left the room. Andrea buried her head in her tail, sobbing inside of herself. _Girls, please come find me, quick!_

~*O*~

Emma woke up on the couch in Will's shed. She had tossed and turned all night, imagining the terrible things that Dr. Denman was doing to Andrea. _Why couldn't it have been me? Why did that woman decide to pick on Andrea?_

She sat up and stretched, looking at Natalie, who had flung off her blanket sometime in the night. _Nat probably didn't get much sleep last night, either. _Bella had curled up in a chair and Rikki and Cleo were lying on the floor near each other. Emma noticed the tell tale tear streaks down Cleo's cheeks. _Poor Cleo, she must've cried for the past few hours._

"Andrea!" Natalie shrieked in her sleep. Emma hurried over to her friend.

"Nat, it's okay! You're just dreaming! Snap out of it!" She shook the redhead, trying to wake her up. Natalie's eyes shot open and she looked around wildly.

"Oh, thank God, it was only a dream." Nat let out a deep breath and leaned against the couch.

"What were you dreaming about?" Emma asked, already knowing deep inside of her.

"Andrea and the horrible things Dr. Denman was doing to her. She _killed_ Andrea, Em. She killed her and did so many awful things to her. What if it's true and Andrea's dead?" Nat wiped away a few stray tears.

"Natalie, I can't promise anything, but Denman will probably keep Andrea alive for a while. She'll want to know Andrea's powers and how she uses them. Denman might also want to keep Andrea as bait to lure us to her."

"But, we have to save Andrea! We just have to, Emma!"

"I know, but we might get caught by Denman if we go after her. You have to think about that."

"I know…but what about…" Natalie was cut off by someone knocking on the door. Cleo, Bella, and Rikki shot up, instantly awake. Emma looked through the peephole in the door and gasped.

"It's Denman's cronies! We need to get out of here!" she hissed. Rikki put a blanket over her hand and punched out one of the windows. Natalie looked at it, awestruck.

"How did you…" Cleo pushed her out the window.

"Run!" Cleo yelled as everyone climbed out of the broken window, trying to avoid the sharp glass. The good thing was, the henchmen had gone into the shed right as the last girl had climbed out. They all piled into Rikki's red Dodge Avenger. Emma got into the driver's seat. Rikki frowned.

"Uh, uh, Em. You never drive over the speed limit. My car, I'll drive." She pushed Emma over into the passenger seat and revved the engine. Denman's henchmen got into a black Crown Victoria.

"We're all gonna die!" Natalie shrieked as she clung to the safety handle. Rikki smiled at her before flooring it. The tires spit out gravel as the Avenger flew down onto the highway.

"Rikki, are you crazy?" Emma yelled at her. "You already owe me money for that speeding ticket yesterday; do you want to pay for another one?" Rikki didn't take her eyes off the road.

"Do you want to be dissected in a lab on Denman's yacht?" Emma shut her mouth. In the backseat, Nat and Cleo hung onto the door handles. Bella, being in the middle, grabbed the console and held on for dear life.

The car carrying Denman's minions got closer to them. Rikki saw an exit that she was about to pass. Natalie saw it too. _Oh, Rikki, please don't… _she thought.

"We've got 'em now." Cody said in the other car.

Rikki swung the wheel around, making the back of the Avenger fishtail before going up the off ramp. The Crown Vic sped by it.

"Red light!" Bella screamed. Rikki slammed on the brakes, causing everyone to be flung forward. Luckily, they were all wearing seatbelts.

"Rikki, if we survive this, I'm never getting into a car with you again!" Emma scolded.

"Why do you think I got voted Worst Driver in high school?" Rikki retorted. She looked in the rearview mirror for any sign of pursuit. The black Crown Victoria came speeding towards them.

"They're right behind us!" Cleo yelled.

"Hang on!" Rikki screamed as she threw the Avenger into a U-turn and sped back down the off ramp. "I'm low on gas," she said while looking at the needle that was getting closer to "empty". "How far is it to the marina?"

"About five miles." Emma said while hanging on.

"Okay, I'll try to shake them, but I'm not sure if it'll work. Are we sure that Andrea's at the marina?"

"There's only one boat registered to a Linda Denman." Cleo said, glad that she had done research the previous night. "It's called _Denman's Pride_. There aren't any labs yet, so that's the only likely place that Dr. Denman would stash Andrea."

"You guys, even if we find Andrea and rescue her, then what do we do?" Bella mumbled through the leather console that her face was smashed against.

"I've been thinking about that." Emma said quietly. "We'll have to disappear again." She paused. "This time by choice." No one argued with her since they knew it was true. There was no other way of survival. Rikki pulled into the marina.

"If it gets too dangerous, dive off the boat and just swim. Try to get to Mako if you can. We'll meet up there if it gets too bad on the yacht." Rikki said. The five girls climbed out of the car and looked at the big white, shiny yacht that their friend was imprisoned in.

"Let's do this." Natalie whispered.

~*O*~

11:33 am

Andrea ignored the burning pain in her arm and tried to focus. She was hoping to be able to explode the top off the tank, freeing herself. But, there was still the problem of the handcuff. _I'll figure that out later. Right now, I need to escape. _She looked up at the top of her prison and positioned her hand.

At that moment, there was a commotion on the top deck. "Get those girls!" she heard Denman yell. _Oh no, they came after me! Why did they do that?_ She shook her head and focused again on escape.

Andrea quickly moved her hand up, causing the water to explode and knock the top off the tank. It hit the ground with a large bang and knocked the tank over onto its side. The glass didn't break. Andrea groaned. _It must be bulletproof glass! Dang it!_ She bit her lip to keep from screaming from the intense pain in her arm.

Then, she saw a closet door that was open. _Maybe there's something in there to cut the handcuff off. _She began to slide out of the tank, tearing up from the searing pain. Then, she army crawled across the room before finally getting to the closet.

Andrea opened it up with her free hand and gasped at what she saw. In a large box on the floor, there were many large red sticks. "Oh my gosh, dynamite!"

_**End of chappie 3! So, what do you think? Car chases, dynamite, Rikki driving, action, Denman evil, henchmen, and drama! Pretty sweet, right? I think so! Will the girls be able to rescue Andrea? Find out in the next "episode"!**_


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

June 4, 12:00 pm

Rikki ran down the deck of Denman's yacht, trying to elude one of the doctor's henchmen. "Can't catch me!" she yelled back at the man that was panting heavily as he chased the slender girl. Rikki looked at the ocean far below her past the rail. _I need to rescue Andrea, but I can't do that if I'm captured as well._

With that, she ran and vaulted over the railing. She screamed as she fell down into the ocean. Rikki remained underwater until she was a few boats down the marina. Then, she surfaced. "That was close." She fearfully looked back at the yacht. _Hopefully someone was able to free Andrea._

~*O*~

Meanwhile, Cleo and Bella were sneaking down into the lower decks, searching for their missing friend. "Andrea," Cleo hissed. "Where are you?" There was no answer. Bella sighed.

"It's no use, Cleo. She probably can't answer us anyway."

Cleo rubbed her temples. "Who knew that being a mermaid brought on so much stress?"

"I could believe that." Dr. Denman said coldly behind them.

"RUN!" Bella screamed as she pushed Cleo ahead of her. The two girls' shoes pounded on the tiled floor as they ran down the stark white hallway. Denman followed behind them and pulled a pistol out of her pocket.

"Now, girls, I know how to use this and I'm not afraid to, either. A dead mermaid is just as good as a live one to me. So, will you come willingly?"

The two mermaids whirled around. "Over my dead body." Cleo said bluntly.

"As you wish," the doctor said and fired a shot. It missed Cleo's head by an inch. Both Bella and Cleo screamed and ran up a flight of stairs to the upper deck, bullets barely missing them.

"We've got to get off the boat." Bella said quickly.

"But what about Andrea? We can't just leave her!" Cleo cried.

"Cleo, we won't be able to help Andrea if we're shot or killed!" With that, Bella pushed Cleo over the railing and jumped off the other side just as a bullet was about to hit her. Dr. Denman cursed under her breath at the sight of two more mermaids getting away.

"Cody, you and Olivia go look for the other mermaids. If you have to, shoot them. Don't kill them because I want them alive…for now. Just make sure that they don't get away either!"

~*O*~

Rikki saw Cleo hit the water hard and went to help her. "Are you okay?" she asked in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you see Bella?"

"I heard a splash on the other side of the yacht, so I think she made it. Did you find Andrea?"

"No, but Dr. Denman started shooting at us, so we had to run. Do you know where Emma and Natalie are?"

"I think they were sneaking down to the lower decks, too. Maybe they'll find Andrea."

"I hope so." Just then, bullets began hitting the water around the two girls. Cleo screamed and Rikki pushed them both under.

"Dang it!" Kyle said above them. "I missed!"

"Well, don't just stand there!" Denman yelled at him. "Grab the wheel and follow them! If you have to, get the speedboat out." Kyle obeyed and walked over to the ship's wheel and turned _Denman's Pride _in the direction of where the two girls had vanished.

The good thing was, the mermaids were quicker and could hide on the bottoms of neighboring boats. But, it was only a matter of time until Denman and her henchmen went diving after them.

Rikki surfaced by a boat three spaces down from the yacht. Cleo came up beside her. "Rikki, what are we supposed to do? Where are Bella and the others? Did they make it?"

"Let me think." The blond girl looked at a bright blue speedboat called the _Lorelei of the Sea._ "I've got an idea. Cleo, use your power."

"How?" Cleo asked, dumbfounded.

"I don't know; just move the water so it will pick us up and put us in the boat." Cleo obeyed and did what Rikki told her to do. "Now what?"

Rikki was occupied with a bunch of wires under the wheel. "Hold on for a second. I'll explain later."

"Oh my gosh…Rikki Chadwick, I am not going to let you steal a boat! It's bad enough that we already broke the law today by going into Grand Theft Auto on the highway! We do not need to steal a boat!"

"Cleo, just shut up! I know what I'm doing!" The motor began to purr and Rikki smiled. "Alright!" She dried both girls off and got behind the wheel. Luckily, the _Lorelei _had a sunroof over the driver's area and the "backseat", as you might call it. Cleo laid down flat onto the floor between the driver's seat and the backseat so she wouldn't be seen.

They found Bella hiding by two boats and Cleo helped her in. "Hang on!" Rikki yelled. "I'm going to go by Denman's yacht. Hopefully Emma and Nat had enough sense to jump off." She sped up the boat and flew over to the yacht. In the shadows by the yacht, they found their other two friends. Bella and Cleo pulled them inside.

"Oh, crap, Rikki's driving," Emma moaned. "Lord, please protect us and don't let us get killed."

"Calm down." Rikki said as she peered up at the yacht where Denman's goons were searching the water. "At least you don't have a bullet hole in your head right now."

"Don't be gruesome." Natalie said quietly as Cleo dried her off using her controlling water power. "We couldn't find Andrea."

"Nat, it's not your fault." Emma soothed. "We were getting shot at! We may be mermaids, but we're not bulletproof."

"I know, but what's happening to her, right now? Is she okay? Is she dead already? I want to know!" Then, there was the piercing sound of a gunshot and a bullet ripped through the sunroof.

"Oh my…" Bella trailed off.

"They found us." Cleo finished for her. Emma screamed then as she looked behind them.

"Rikki, I really don't care what you do, but they're right behind us!" Rikki saw the evil henchmen and made the speedboat go faster.

"Cleo, you and Nat go up to the front. It will even out the weight and make us go faster." The two girls complied and lay on the leather seats in the front section, trying to protect themselves from the gunshots surrounding them.

Emma and Bella looked back at the rapidly approaching speedboat. "Please don't catch us." Emma whispered.

~*O*~

Andrea tried not to look at her raw wrist as she focused on her plan. She was going to pull the steel lid back onto her tank right as she would light the fuse on the box of dynamite. Sure, she would die, but she would save her friends by her sacrifice.

She quietly pulled out the package of matches she had found. "This is for you, guys," Andrea whispered as she lit it. The steel lid was near her, like she planned. She was already inside the bulletproof tank. _It's probably not bomb proof, though. _

Just then, she saw her bag inside the closet. "My cell phone!" she cried. _I can at least call and say goodbye to everyone._ She dug around inside the bag until she found the object she was looking for. Knowing Emma always had her cell phone on her, she called that number first.

Emma picked up on the second ring. _"Andrea? Is that you?"_

"_Let me talk to her!" _Andrea heard Natalie yell.

"I'm fine, guys. I just called to say goodbye."

"_What do you mean, 'goodbye'?" _Emma asked.

"There's dynamite in the room I'm in. I'm going to blow up the ship."

"_Andrea, no!"_

"I don't care if I die. It doesn't matter as long as you all are safe."

"_If you really want to kill yourself, fine. But, I have an idea. When it goes off, use your power to repel the blast away from you. Maybe it will protect you."_

"Okay, I'll try it. I love you all." Andrea hung up then so Emma wouldn't hear her cry. She breathed deeply and lit another match. She placed it on the longest fuse and quickly pulled herself inside the tank and pulled the heavy lid on top. Then, the bomb exploded.

Andrea screamed and forced the water that was left inside her prison out, breaking the lid and pushing some of the blast away from her. Still, the tank flew through the yacht's side and into the water. As it sank, Andrea blacked out, weakened from fighting and from her imprisonment. The tank gently sank to the bottom of the bay, leaving Andrea unconscious inside…

~*O*~

_(right before the blast; 1:23 pm)_

"Rikki, I have an idea!" Emma yelled over the motor. "See if you can get the other speedboat close to the yacht before it explodes. Then, go as fast as you can towards Mako!"

Rikki obeyed and twisted the _Lorelei _towards the yacht. The other speedboat followed them. She quickly drove around _Denman's Pride,_ praying that Andrea's bomb wouldn't go off right then and there. As soon as the girls were about eleven meters from the fancy yacht, it exploded, throwing debris towards the tiny boat. Rikki sped up and headed to Mako.

"ANDREA!" Natalie screamed as she scanned the flaming yacht. The henchmen had gone down with the yacht as well. There was no sign of any life. "NO! She can't be dead! Andrea, come back!" She almost dove off the boat, but Cleo and Bella held her down.

"Nat, we have to get out of here before the cops come!" Cleo pleaded while trying to hold onto Natalie's legs. "It won't help us if Denman lived and comes after us!"

"Oh, Cleo, come on," Bella scoffed. "Denman couldn't have survived that blast, no one could!"

The five girls then headed to Mako, sobbing over the loss of their friend.

~*O*~

In the flaming wreck of _Denman's Pride, _a blond head surfaced. Dr. Linda Denman cursed all of the mermaids' right there and then. She then pulled up another figure, this one being Andrea, who was still unconscious.

"You won't win, girls," the doctor cursed. "Not this time."

_**End of chapter 4! Sorry that this one was late; I was really busy these past few days. So, if this chapter isn't as good as my usual ones, sorry! I'll do better on chappie 5! I was really just trying to get this chapter out. Please review! :)**_


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

June 4, 7:49 pm

Waves lapped gently on the shores of Mako Island. Rikki, Natalie, Bella, Cleo, and Emma carried belongings onto their new boat, the _Lorelei III._ It too was a fixer upper, but they were planning on sinking the boat, so it didn't matter.

That was the plan: to sink this boat and make it look like they died in the shipwreck. In reality, they would dive off right as the boat exploded, leaving five charred dummies inside. Rikki handed Emma a cardboard box filled with freeze dried food.

"Be careful with that, Em. I don't want to be on the banana diet for another three months." Emma gave her a look and quietly placed the box inside the boat's kitchen.

Nat was staring out to sea, silent tears creeping down her face. _Andrea…_

_Flashback_

_May 16, 10:00 pm_

"_I'm going to beat you, Nat!" Andrea yelled as she ran down the beach in front of their apartment. She laughed and dove into the ocean, her pinkish-orange tail sparkling in the half moonlight._

"_Oh, no, you don't, Andrea!" Natalie said as she sprinted into the salty surf. By this point, Andrea was already halfway to the rock that the two girls hung out on summer nights like this. Nat still swam as fast as she could, reaching the rock in two minutes. Andrea was checking her nails when Nat surfaced._

"_You're so slow; a turtle could beat you." Andrea said, giggling. Natalie splashed her in the face with her tail as a reply. "Oh, it's on, big sis!" the younger girl yelled as she slid off the rock and tackled Nat, knocking the air out of the poor other girl._

_Natalie pushed Andrea off of her underwater, gasping for air as she surfaced. "Okay, that was not cool," she said breathlessly. The blond girl laughed, mischief sparkling in her violet eyes. _

"_Come on, Nat, let's go have some fun!" With that, the other mermaid was gone to explore her underwater world. Natalie rolled her eyes and followed her friend._

_End of Flashback_

Natalie was startled out of her memories when Bella tapped her on the shoulder. "Nat, it's time to go." Bella said quietly. The two girls silently walked over to the wooden boat that was all packed.

"…no, Rikki, you can't use the explosives to catch fish." Cleo was saying when Natalie and Bella got on board.

"How did we get explosives?" Bella asked.

"Rikki has connections," Emma and Cleo stated at the same time.

"Hey, we need to get going," Rikki said, pointing to the nearing sunset. "Just in case the cops tie us to the explosion and the car chase."

The others agreed and got onto the _Lorelei III. _Emma took the wheel and Natalie went to cry herself to sleep. Rikki rummaged through the kitchen cabinets for snacks, while Cleo and Bella began a Canasta game. Everyone settled into their new life, wondering what the journey ahead of them would be like…

~*O*~

June 18, 5:30 pm

_(The one year anniversary of the shipwreck)_

"Tonight's the night," Emma sighed while leaning against the rail. That night was the one year anniversary of the original shipwreck and would become the anniversary of another. Cleo came up behind Emma.

"You doing okay?" Cleo asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I guess. It's just…it's just hard to believe that just one year ago today; we were four happy go lucky girls heading to California. Then, the storm came up, changing our lives forever."

"I know," Cleo agreed. "We were separated and had to learn how to survive. It was a hard three months."

"And now, it's going to happen all over again." Emma groaned. "I don't want us to not be together again!"

"Em, that won't happen. We have the dinghy all prepared. Bella and Nat will have it far away by the time Rikki sets off the explosives. Then, Rikki, you, and I will dive off the _Lorelei _and find the dinghy. We know where Sirena Island is, so that's taken care of. It's foolproof!"

"That's what the crew of the Titanic said, and look what happened to them!"

"Emma Gilbert, you are _way_ smarter than that! We've practiced the plan so much; it's embedded into my brain. There is nothing that can go wrong." After she finished her sentence, rain began to fall onto the boat, soaking Cleo and Emma. They fell onto the deck as mermaids.

"Oh, great," Emma moaned. "Now we're stuck out here." She looked over to the glass sliding door where Bella, Rikki, and Natalie shrugged their shoulders apologetically. She gave them a "look" before whipping around angrily to Cleo. "I thought you checked the weather!"

"I did! It's a freak storm! It'll be over soon." Emma still saw Cleo bite her lip worriedly.

"Cleo, tell me the truth."

"Alright, it's a flipping hurricane! I didn't want to tell you all since we had prepared for so long! I thought that maybe we would be able to get ahead of it and to Sirena before it would even hit!"

"I'm going to kill you, Cleo!" Emma was about to tackle the brunette when an eerie light took over the whole boat. A full moon had escaped from the hurricane's clouds and was shining brightly in the sky. The rain stopped and the other three girls walked onto the deck.

"Nothing's happening," Natalie said, relieved.

"Something still doesn't feel right, though." Bella disagreed.

Then, a tentacle made completely of water shot out of the water and grabbed Natalie! The redhead screamed as she was dragged off the _Lorelei III _and underneath the surface of the water.

"No!" Rikki shrieked. She went to dive after her friend.

"Wait!" Cleo yelled. "We still need to explode the boat and get the dinghy!" It was too late, though. Rikki had already dived into the water and was following the tentacle that was holding Natalie hostage. Emma groaned.

"She's going to get herself killed," she muttered. "I'll get the dynamite; Bella, you and Cleo finish taking care of the dinghy." The two other girls obeyed and Cleo took care of Emma and her tails. Then, Emma headed to the main cabin and took the homemade bomb out of the broom closet.

_Set timer to ten minutes…_ Emma thought to herself. _Attach wires to the dynamite…oh my gosh, what if I don't do this right? No, focus, Emma! Remember all that stuff that Rikki was mumbling about. _Emma finished the bomb and set the timer. Sure enough, it began counting down the minutes.

"_Come on, Em!" _Cleo yelled faintly from outside. Emma ran out of the cabin and dove into the sea. Bella and Cleo pulled her into the dinghy.

"Hurry!" Bella shrieked while frantically paddling away. "We don't want to go down with the ship!" The three girls began to swiftly propel themselves away from the _Lorelei III_. When they were about twenty yards away, the bomb went off, destroying the mermaids' last tie to civilization….

~*O*~

June 18, 7:44 pm

Natalie surfaced in Sirena's moonpool, gasping for air as the tentacle clutched her tightly. She couldn't even scream for help since she was being held so tight. _I'm going to be suffocated. _That thought shot chills up her spine. _No! I can't die! Andrea needs me! I don't care what Rikki says; Andrea is alive. I just know it! _

"_Natalie, fight!" _a familiar voice yelled.

"Rikki?" Natalie asked.

_No, you dingbat, it's me, Andrea! Now, fight the tentacle!"_

"I can't!" Natalie gasped. "It's trying to kill me!"

A bright pinkish-orange light filled the cave and an image of Andrea in her tail appeared. "Natalie Angela DeGrand, do NOT give up on me! I need you!"

"You mean…you're not dead?"

"No, I'm not dead, you idiot! I'm on Denman's new boat, alive and well…at least for now. But that doesn't matter. You need to live!" Andrea then forced the tentacle away from Natalie's chest down to her tail. "Go away, you big tube of Jell-O!" Andrea yelled to the tentacle. The water tentacle vanished then, whimpering softly.

Natalie panted, trying to get her breath back. "Thank you, Andrea," she said through heavy breaths. Andrea blankly stared at her.

"_No." _the younger girl whispered. _"Please, I need more time!" _

"Andrea, what's wrong?" Nat asked worriedly.

The other girl turned around slowly. _"Nat, this is an experiment that Denman was doing to me. She wanted to see my other abilities, and this happened. Now, she wants me back." _Silent tears spilled out of Andrea's violet eyes. _"I love you like a sis, Nat. If I never come back, please remember that." _

Andrea began to dissolve into pinkish-orange light, beginning with her tail. "No, Andrea!" Natalie screamed. "Come back!"

"_Natalie, please wake up," _a faraway voice pleaded. Nat found herself being pulled away from Andrea, who was halfway dissolved.

"NO!" Natalie shrieked. "NO!" It was too late; Andrea was gone.

"_Natalie, it's okay," _Andrea whispered on the wind blowing through the cave. _"I'll be alright."_ Then, any sign of the younger girl vanished, leaving Natalie alone.

"ANDREA!" Natalie screamed before collapsing into a world of darkness. _I don't want to lose her…_

~*O*~

June 19, 4:23 am

Rikki looked at Natalie again, begging her friend to wake up. Last night had been a blur of events, but Rikki could remember them very clearly.

_Flashback_

_June 18, 8:00 pm_

_Rikki sped through the water towards Sirena Island, hoping that she wasn't too late. As she surfaced in the moonpool, she saw Natalie unconscious in the tentacle's clutches._

"_Let Natalie go!" she yelled at it. "I know what you're trying to tell us!" The tentacle "stared" at Rikki and loosened its grip on Natalie a little. "There's another comet coming, right?"_

_The living water nodded at her as if it understood. It let Nat sink to the bottom of the moonpool and grabbed Rikki instead. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. "What do you want?" she asked bravely. "We already know what will happen; what more do you want from us?"_

_Her captor looked at her again before forcing her to look up at the moon. Then, images began flashing before her eyes. A comet speeding through space…being drawn to the three Pacific islands…exploding upon impact…Earth being destroyed in minutes…_

"_That's it?" Rikki yelled when the pictures stopped. "There's another comet coming and it will destroy Earth if we don't stop it? My friends and I have already stopped Eva's comet; we can get rid of this one!" As a reply, the water tentacle slapped Rikki across the face, knocking her out instantly. She sunk to the bottom of the moonpool along with Natalie. _

_But, just as Rikki hit the soft underwater sand, another image appeared. An image of the tower of light capturing one of the mermaids…_

_**Yay! Chapter 5 is finally finished! :) What do you all think? Will the girls be able to stop the comet and save Andrea? Will Andrea survive for that long? Find out in the next chapter of H2O:JAS 2!**_


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

June 19, 6:24 am

"Land ho!" Bella yelled as she spotted the thin green line of Sirena Island. Cleo and Emma sighed in relief.

"My arms are killing me," Cleo moaned while rubbing them. "It's a good thing that we're almost there."

"Stop whining, Cleo," Emma snapped. "We still have to find Rikki and Natalie once we get to the island!" Cleo shut her mouth and silently looked at the rapidly approaching island. Bella gave the brunette girl a sympathetic look and glared at Emma.

"She really didn't need that right now, Em." Bella whispered. "Cleo's already stressed from last night's crap; she doesn't need any more!" Emma glared right back at Bella, but didn't make a sarcastic comeback. She simply grabbed Cleo's oar and quickly started to row towards it. The rest of the journey was spent in silence.

~*O*~

Silent tears were creeping down Rikki's dirt streaked cheeks as she tried again to wake up Natalie. _It didn't take Bella that long to wake up. What if it hurt her even worse than Bella? What if Nat's already dead? _Rikki touched Natalie's wrist and found a faint pulse. Her friend was still alive.

"Natalie DeGrand, you need to wake up! We need you!" Rikki screamed while gently shaking the girl. _Well, if the others made it here._ She knew that they were on Sirena because the cave that the six girls had stayed in was only a few yards away. But, she had no idea whether Emma, Cleo, and Bella had been able to blow up the boat and return to their island.

Just then, Nat's eyelids fluttered softly. She winced from the painful bruises spotting her pale Irish complexion. "Rikki?" she whispered.

Rikki whipped around to find Natalie struggling to sit up. "Nat, don't rush yourself. You've been knocked out for hours. I thought you were dead!"

"How did I get here?" Natalie asked while rubbing her forehead. "I don't remember anything."

"I saved you last night from the water tentacle. It was trying to suffocate you. I was able to figure out what it wanted and it released you. Then, I swam back to the beach with you and we've been here ever since." Rikki didn't tell Nat about what the tentacle had told her in case she collapsed again.

"Thank you, Rikki," Nat whispered before laying back and falling asleep again. Rikki let her sleep and looked out over the horizon for the dinghy. _Girls, where are you?_

~*O*~

June 19, 8:25 am

Andrea woke up slowly to the sun's rays shining in her black eye. She whimpered and went to try to protect it. A little bit of blood leaked out of the cut that refused to heal on her left wrist where a handcuff still was. Salt water seeped into it and Andrea bit her lip.

Dr. Denman had made her life a living nightmare. Constant power tests that left her arms like jelly, "samples" taken from her like a common animal, violent slaps if she didn't obey (like her black eye), and threats that Denman would find her friends and put them through this torture. So, Andrea complied with all the crud Denman made her do.

She had woken up on Denman's new boat, _Pacific Magic, _a week ago_. _A pretty name for a prison ship. Ever since then, Andrea's life had been turned upside down. She knew that Dr. Denman drugged her constantly and that the only reason she had a new boat was because of Andrea. Andrea was proof that mermaids existed. But, Denman wasn't happy with just one teenage mermaid. She wanted all six of them.

The heavy steel door to Andrea's prison swung open and Dr. Linda Denman walked in, smiling evilly at the young mermaid. "Hello, Andi," she said with a fake grin. "How are you this morning?"

Andrea reached for the plastic slate that she wrote on so Denman could understand her. _My name is Andrea, _she wrote. She held it up to the blond doctor. Denman's grin slid to a frown.

"Of course, _Andrea_," she said a little forcefully. "How are you this morning?"

_Not any better than last night. _Andrea pointed to her black eye after she finished scribbling.

"That is your own fault. You shouldn't have caused those plants to try to choke me."

_You wanted to see my powers. I showed you them. _The mermaid laughed to herself as she wrote them, glad that a little bit of her Rikki side was still inside her.

Denman glared at Andrea and opened the glass door at the front of the girl's tank. Gallons of water poured out onto the tile floor and Andrea almost fell out except her handcuff caught her. She gasped from the burning sensation in her raw wrist. Denman grabbed her almost waist length blond hair and yanked it so Andrea was looking her right in the eye.

"I came here to let you know that we are almost to your island. One of my companions said that he found the smoldering remains of your friends' boat last night. They must already be there."

"No!" Andrea screamed through her tears. "Don't hurt them!"

"I'll do whatever I want to with them, missy. Just you wait." The doctor left Andrea half dangling out of her tank and went to the main cabin. The younger girl began to cry, almost choking on each sob. _I have to escape. I have to warn my friends!_

~*O*~

June 19, 9:04 am

Bella and Cleo dragged the dinghy onto the white sandy beach of Sirena Island. They collapsed with exhaustion once the boat was out of the waves' reach. Cleo wiped some sweat off of her face and leaned against the wooden craft. "That was hard work," she cried.

The other girl nodded in agreement. "Where did Emma run off to?"

"She went to go look for Rikki and Natalie. She's just a little nervous that they didn't make it here."

"Poor Emma. I was too hard on her this morning."

"It's not your fault, Bella. Em was being a little self-centered." Just as Cleo finished, she saw Emma and Rikki coming towards the dinghy, supporting Natalie between them. Cleo gave a little shriek. "Natalie!" she yelled frantically.

Nat waved away Cleo's concern. "I'm fine, Cleo. Just a little weak from last night. The tentacle really beat me up."

Cleo was just staring at Nat's many bruises spotting her body. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. As long as I can rest for a while, I'll be just fine."

Rikki spoke up. "I have a little bit of urgent news. The tentacle told me something last night. There's another comet coming and this one will be the worst one yet!"

Everyone was in shocked silence for a few moments. Then, Natalie fainted and Emma rushed to revive her. Cleo looked at Rikki, mouth wide open.

"Rikki, are you sure that the tentacle told you that?" Cleo asked.

"Yes, Cleo. It told me that an even larger comet would be pulled to Sirena, Emma's island, and Bella's first island. The impact would destroy the earth in a matter of minutes."

Bella was pondering this. "So, we'll have to combine all three of the moonpools' crystals to stop it."

"How is that even possible?" Emma asked while fanning Natalie to try to wake her. "We can't be in three moonpools at once!"

"We'll have to figure out a way." Bella said simply. The others sat, stunned as the sun rose higher over their island.

~*O*~

June 19, 12:00 pm

Andrea was crying as she started to yank the stubborn handcuff chain out of the glass wall. It hurt like crap, but she didn't care. _I need to warn my friends before it's too late. _Finally, the tiny chain broke, throwing Andrea onto the ground. She cried out in pain since it was almost a three-foot fall.

She dragged herself to a dry corner of the stark white room and waited for her tail to vanish. As soon as it did, Andrea left through the unlocked door and snuck down the hallways of _Pacific Magic._ Finally, she came to a room with an opened porthole.

"No turning back," she whispered before sliding out the window. She swan dove into the ocean with a silent splash. She stayed under until her pinkish orange tail formed. Then, Andrea began swimming in the direction of the island, glad that Denman had not tortured that information out of her.

Meanwhile, Denman had come back to Andrea's room to do more tests on her. She gasped when she found pieces of the broken handcuff chain and an open porthole in another room.

"ANDREA!" she yelled.

_**Yay! I finally finished this chapter! Sorry that it took so long, but my teachers like to torture me with homework and I have show choir practices after school on Mondays and Thursdays. Then, I also do a bible study on Wednesday nights and I'm going to start academic team practices on Wednesday, too. I've recently had two choir concerts as well. So, if my chapters are a little late, blame my school! :) I try my hardest to get them out on time! (It didn't help that writer's block just happened to hit me during all this either!) I hope to get chapter 7 out really soon!**_


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

June 20, 7:13 am

Andrea was exhausted as she swam through the crystal blue water. Her arms ached and her tail was weakly flicking and barely keeping her afloat. _Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do I do, I swim, swim, swim. Dang Finding Nemo! _But, the girl did feel some extra strength coursing through her tired body. _I must be almost there. _Andrea surfaced and saw a glimpse of Sirena Island. _Come on, Andrea. You have to warn Natalie and the others. _

She started flicking her tail even harder, finally reaching her top speed of 90 miles an hour. Within five minutes, Andrea hit sand. She spit out the gritty substance and used what energy was left in her arms to pull herself onto the hot white beach. As soon as she laid her face against it, Andrea Wilkens was dead to the world. _**(A/N: Don't worry, only an expression! Lol) **_

~*O*~

Natalie leaned over to pick up some sticks for the fire that Rikki had made. She looked out over the horizon, searching for any boats. Luckily, there wasn't any. _Emma was right. This is the perfect hiding place. No one will search for us here. _She stopped picking up firewood and went to sit on a dead log at the edge of the slightly dense underbrush. _But, there's still the problem of Andrea. What if Denman tortured the location of Sirena out of her? What if that evil woman is coming here right now?_

The eighteen year old leaned her chin on her hand, sighing as she continued to think. _Don't worry, Nat. Andrea's not that dumb. We've talked plenty of times about what to do if captured._

_Flashback_

_December 23, 7:24 pm_

_Natalie turned off the Hot-Shot and dispensed two cups of hot water out of it. After adding a couple packages of hot chocolate mix into the mugs, Andrea took them to the townhouse's living room. Nat joined her a few minutes later. Andrea was staring at the bright lights of the plastic Christmas tree that Natalie had bought at Thanksgiving._

"_What's up, little sis?" Nat asked while sipping the chocolate drink. She recognized the thinking look on the younger girl's face._

"_Sorry…it's just that I'm missing Alex right now. We always celebrate Christmas together and this is the first year without him."_

"_I bet. This is my first year without my dad and Chris with me for Christmas. I know just how you feel."_

"_Alex and I always had so much fun on the _Siren._ There was a big holiday party on Christmas Eve in the grand ballroom and the staff would give each other presents. Alex would even make sure that I had a little tree in my room. He would leave my gifts under it so I could see them the next morning."_

"_That does sound like a lot of fun."_

"_But that's not it. Last night, I had a really bad dream. Some scientist kidnapped Rikki, Cleo, and Emma. They were tortured by her, Nat. She made them do so many terrible things and locked them up. Her name was Dr. Denman."_

_Natalie was instantly dumbstruck. Was Denman back? Rikki, Emma, and Cleo had told her about the evil scientist last year after she had become a mermaid, but she never told Andrea. She didn't want her friend to worry. But…what if the others were in trouble? Should she call Bella? She opened her eyes to see Andrea looking at her, very concerned._

"_Are you okay? You look pretty pale."_

"_It's nothing, Andi." Andrea glared at Nat, her violet eyes blazing with anger. Her lips pursed into a thin line as she tried to keep from screaming._

"_Nat, I've told you this before. I hate that nickname. My name is Andrea. Andi is a boy's name."_

"_Okay, okay. The truth is…Dr. Denman is a real person. She did try to expose Rikki, Emma, and Cleo before, but they were able to trick her into thinking that they weren't mermaids anymore. She left the Gold Coast over two years ago. You don't have to worry about her."_

"_You knew about this woman and you never told me?"_

"_No, because I didn't want you to totally freak out. The others were worried about telling me, but I wormed it out of them anyway."_

_Andrea seemed to sigh with obvious relief. "You're for sure that she's gone?"_

"_Yes, she is. Rikki told me that she sometimes researches her and she found another project to work on. Dr. Denman won't bother them ever again."_

"_What if we were discovered and captured? What would we do?"_

"_First of all, that won't happen as long as we're careful. Second of all, even if we did, we would use our powers to escape. And, you don't want to give up any important information to the scientist. That's something very important."_

_Andrea nodded, a little pale but remaining strong. "Okay, I understand that." She grinned then. "Natalie DeGrand, I know that you're a mermaid. Tell me everything you know!"_

_Natalie smiled. "I'll never tell you!" The night soon turned into a giggly interrogation session, chasing away any holiday blues…._

_End of Flashback_

Nat wiped away the tears trickling down her face, shaking her head to make the memory vanish. _Don't you see? Andrea was smart enough. She killed herself to save us. She sacrificed her own life to save five others. _Then, a bit of doubt slipped into a corner of her mind. _But, what about my dream? Andrea said that she was still alive._

Another little voice instantly shot that down. _You were dying at that point, Natalie. That was just a crazy dream you had while your breath was being stolen out of your body._

"No!" Natalie cried, shattering the voice. "Andrea is still alive! I know that she is!"

"_Nat…please help me…" _a faint voice whispered. Natalie whipped around and saw the limp body of her unbiological sister lying on the beach, waves washing over it.

"ANDREA!" Natalie screamed, alerting Rikki, Emma, Cleo, and Bella on the other side of the island. They rushed over to find Natalie doing CPR on Andrea's lifeless body…

~*O*~

June 20, 10:28 am

Andrea was lying in the cave, barely breathing. Natalie was softly sobbing by her side, holding the girl's raw wrist in her hand. Emma had to wrench it away to dress it with some gauze and antiseptic. Andrea's wounds were extensive with her whole body being covered with cuts and bruises. Emma had to hold in her emotions with all her strength so Nat wouldn't freak out any more than she had to.

Outside the cave, Rikki, Bella, and Cleo were sitting on the beach, quietly conferring.

"What happened to her?" Bella asked.

"Apparently Denman decided to torture Andrea," Rikki said while picking up sand and letting it run through her hands.

"How could she do that to such a young girl?" Cleo said in horror.

"She's a scientist. They do these things for research," Rikki replied. "Denman would've done the same thing to us."

"Good thing that you guys were able to trick her," Bella said with relief.

Meanwhile, inside the cave, Natalie was alone with Andrea while Emma went to go talk to the other girls. "Come on, Andrea, wake up." Nat could barely look at Andrea's many injuries. _If I ever see Dr. Linda Denman again, I will kill her. She deserves to die after what she did to Andrea._

"_Nat…Denman…coming…run…" _Andrea whispered. Nat gasped.

"What did you say?"

"_Denman is coming. Run, Natalie." _

"Sis, are you positive? Does she know?"

"_Found the boat. Told me that she'd found you. I escaped to warn you."_

"When is she coming?"

"_I…_I don't know. But, you have to get out of here. Leave me behind. I can deal with Denman."

"No, Andrea. I promised Alex that I would take care of you and I will. We have to tell the others." Natalie left Andrea lying on Cleo's sleeping bag and ran to tell the others…

~*O*~

_**A/N: Thanks to Marril96 for her battle ideas! You're awesome!**_

June 20, 2:45 pm

The girls had made a plan. For the time being, Natalie and Andrea were going to flee to Bella's island which was a three day swim, Emma and Bella would go to Emma's, which was four days away, and Rikki and Cleo would stay at Sirena. But, first they would fight Denman.

Around three, _Pacific Magic _was in view. Bella had climbed up a tree and spotted it. "Time for Operation: Hurricane Sirena!" she yelled down to Natalie, who relayed it to Rikki before going to get Andrea. The remaining four mermaids went down to the beach and stood staring at the horizon. Cleo began the storm by causing strong winds to toss the sea's waves. Bella and Emma added their powers, and finally Rikki started letting lightning bolts strike from the sky. The boat tossed and turned, but it crashed on the shallow coral reef protecting the island. Lifeboats began to be lowered into the water.

"They can't be stopped!" Cleo shrieked over the wind.

"We'll just have to fight back harder!" Rikki yelled back.

"I'll help you with that!" Natalie came running down the beach. She threw out her hand and the earth began to shake. The waves pitched the tiny dinghies back and forth.

"Nat, stop! You're going to cause a tsunami!" Bella cried while trying to pull her friend's hand back. Nat held her hand out a few more seconds before Andrea came up and slapped Natalie's wrist.

"Don't kill them!" Andrea scolded. "At least wait until they get here!" Then, she pulled Nat away from the beach and into the forest. Rikki, Bella, Emma, and Cleo stayed behind to fight Denman and her team. They all shook in terror as they watched the few lifeboats that survived the almost tsunami get closer to their secret paradise…

~*O*~

June 20, 3:19 pm

Linda Denman was in the first lifeboat, grinning evilly as she looked at the five girls desperately trying to keep her away. _Not this time, girls. This time I will win. I'll even get that stupid Andrea back. _There were three other lifeboats with her, each holding five men. All together there were twenty people, including her. _All of us against five mermaids._

She helped pull her lifeboat onto the white sand, looking surprised when she noticed that the teenagers weren't there anymore. "Alright girls, you've had your fun. Now come out before someone gets hurt!" Nothing moved. Then, she saw rustling in the bushes heading up to the cliffs on the northern side of the island.

"I'll head over there," she said while pointing north, "You guys look for the others." Her henchmen nodded in agreement before looking around the beach. Denman pocketed her pistol and went to the bushes.

As soon as Denman was gone, Rikki, Emma, Cleo, and Bella came leaping out of the underbrush. Rikki started the battle by boiling the nearest henchman's blood. Cleo summoned numerous water serpents that began attacking the other men. The few men that weren't being attacked began firing their weapons.

Cleo formed a water wall and Bella crystallized it, making a bulletproof shield around the four girls. Bella and Emma began freezing and jellifying the henchmen's blood, instantly killing them. Within ten minutes, six people were dead. They kept on fighting while Denman hunted Natalie and Andrea…

~*O*~

Natalie was gasping for air as she and Andrea ran up the path to the cliffs. They were planning to jump into the moonpool from above and then swim out. They would then swim to Bella's island. Just then, a shot fired over their heads. Andrea screamed involuntarily.

"Girls, don't think about running away from me. I have a gun and I'm not afraid to shoot you." Chills shot down Andrea's spine at the mere sound of Linda Denman's smooth voice. She thought fast and stuck a hand down to her side. Vines began to wrap around the two mermaids, making a small seat.

"Andrea, what's going on?" Natalie asked nervously.

"Just shut up and hang on." Andrea started moving her hand, causing the vine "seat" to lift off the ground and go up to the branches of a tall tropical tree. Natalie hung onto her vines tightly, not wanting to look down. Andrea stepped off her seat and onto the branch of the tree.

"Nat, the ride's over. Open your eyes." Natalie opened one eye to make sure that Andrea was telling the truth before hopping onto the branch.

"Andrea, I'm not going to go away." Denman was standing at the foot of the tree.

_Why can't we fly? _Natalie thought. There weren't any trees close enough to jump to. Andrea was already thinking about that. She started to control the plants to make a bridge to a nearby tree. Denman wasn't going to be that patient, though.

A shot rang out and Natalie screamed. Andrea did too when she saw the blood gushing out of her sister's arm. _"Natalie!" _she shrieked. She looked down at Denman who was laughing madly.

"_You hurt my sister!"_ Andrea screamed. _"How dare you!" _Natalie then fell out of the tree, falling towards the ground. Andrea whipped out her hand and a vine caught Natalie by the waist. "Hold on, Nat!" Andrea yelled as the vine pulled the other girl up.

"_Andrea…get to the…cliffs."_ Natalie whispered._ "We have to…jump."_

"Natalie, we'll _die!_"

"_I don't want to lose you…not again." _With that, Nat leaned onto Andrea and moved her hand so a vine wrapped around Andrea, too. Andrea quietly made the vines swing the two girls to the edge of the cliffs.

"Nat…if we die…I want to tell you something."

"_Not now, Andrea." _Natalie's breathing had become more labored. Denman came running up the path towards them. Andrea looked back at the woman, fear on her young face. She realized that it was time. Just as another warning shot came out of Denman's pistol, Andrea clutched onto Natalie and leaped off of the safe ground. _A leap of faith._

"Natalie…I wanted to tell you…that Alex loves you!" Andrea yelled over the air rushing around her. Nat didn't respond. Andrea looked beside her and saw that Nat was unconscious. _"No!" _she shrieked. As soon as she screamed, both girls were enveloped in water.

Andrea opened her eyes underwater and saw the entrance to the moonpool. She waited for her tail to form before dragging Natalie up the tunnel and into the moonpool. She sat there with Nat's head in her lap, quietly sobbing.

~*O*~

Rikki had just killed a henchman with a lightning bolt when she heard Andrea scream _"Natalie!"_ The others heard it too. Rikki looked at them and Emma gave her a knowing look.

"Go," she said, "we'll take care of the rest." Rikki left the shield and ran to where she heard Andrea scream. She got there just in time to see Andrea and Natalie leap to their death.

"NO!" she yelled. Denman turned around to see Rikki angry with revenge. She went to pull out her gun, but Rikki's leg kicked it out of the scientist's hand. The pistol flew over the cliff as well. Then, Rikki drew her hand into a fist.

Denman began to turn red as Rikki cooked her from the inside. "You are so _weak._" Rikki said coldly. "You just couldn't leave us alone. You had to capture us to use us in your experiments. So just leave us ALONE!" Rikki let her hand fall limp and Denman fell onto the jungle turf, gasping for air. The blond mermaid wasn't finished yet, though.

She picked up Linda Denman and punched her in the face. Then, she let the woman drop and kicked her in the stomach. Emma came up in time to see Rikki start to boil the scientist again.

"Rikki, _stop_!" Emma cried as she hurried up to where the two people were. "You're going to kill her!"

"Isn't that the point?" Rikki said through her tears. "She just killed Natalie and Andrea! They just jumped off the cliff!"

"Don't use Denman as your revenge, Rikki. She may have tortured us, but don't let her control you. She's just an insecure person. Rikki, please don't hurt her." Emma was pleading at this point.

Rikki stared at the woman who was almost fried at this point and back at her friend who was begging her to save their mortal enemy's life. _Don't let her control you._ Rikki remembered all the research that she had done, trying to make sure that Dr. Denman was far away from them. Then, she remembered the look on Andrea's face as she leaped to her certain death. _Is Andrea's death worth this?_

The girl released her hand and Denman lay still on the ground. Emma quickly was at the woman's side. She used her power to cool down the scientist's temperature. Rikki watched her while leaning against a tree. She peered at the ground and saw an ominous dark red stain. "Oh my gosh…" she whispered. "One of them was shot."

~*O*~

June 20, 4:12 pm

"Come on, Nat, stay with me!" Andrea said while she held onto her best friend. "I can't lose you now!" It was too late, though. Natalie had lost a lot of blood and it was still coming out despite Andrea's efforts to stop the bleeding. "Natalie, please! I need you! Rikki, Emma, Bella, and Cleo need you! Alex needs you! I can't lose you."

Natalie still continued to not breathe. Andrea began to cry, her tears sliding off of her face and into the water. Just then, the walls began to glow with green light and Ashley stepped out. Andrea was in shock.

"Ashley? Why are you here?" Andrea asked. Ashley just smiled at her and stepped into the moonpool. The water glowed as soon as she touched it and began to bubble. Her white dress faded away and a dark blue tail replaced her legs. Ashley swam over to where Natalie's arm was spilling blood into the magical pool.

Andrea watched as Ashley placed a hand on the bullet wound and closed her eyes. Green light poured out where Ashley's hand was, swirling around the three girls.

"I'm here to heal Natalie, Andrea." Ashley said as the light grew brighter. "She still has a lot of time left on this earth." Ashley lifted her hand and there was only a little scratch left where the ugly wound had been. The brunette trickled a bit of water on the scratch and it vanished, too. Andrea gasped in surprise.

"Now, you girls need to get to Bella's island." Ashley said nonchalantly. She quietly pulled a green crystal off of her neck and dropped it into the water. The water glowed so bright that it was hard to see anything else but the light. Andrea felt herself being lifted out of the water and towards the hole at the top of the moonpool.

"You'll go straight to the island." Ashley told her. "No swimming required." Then, Andrea and Natalie went speeding through the sky towards the other island. Ashley floated out the hole as well and saw Emma and Rikki looking at her. Emma seemed like she was about to pass out. Ashley let some light float to her and Emma was picked up.

"What's going on?" Emma said, a little frightened.

"You're getting a one way trip to your island." Ashley said, laughing.

After Emma was on her way, Ashley went to the other side of the island and eliminated the few of Denman's men who were still fighting Bella and Cleo. Bella was sent on to Emma's island and Ashley brought Cleo to Rikki.

"Protect Sirena for me," Ashley ordered them. Both girls nodded. Ashley sent Denman back to Australia so the girls could have time to defeat the comet.

"Thank you, Ashley." Cleo said. Rikki nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry, girls. You can beat this comet."

As she spoke, Ashley dissolved into light and vanished back up to heaven. The two girls were left alone on Sirena Island. They both walked down the path back to the sleeping cave to prepare for the comet…

_**Wow! I'm finally done with this chapter! It took me a while, but do you see why? I had sooo much action to write in this, including Natalie being shot! And then I had the battle and Ashley's return as well! I have a few questions for my lovely reviewers, too. First question: Would anyone be severely offended if I killed off Denman in a future chapter? (That woman is a thorn in my side.) Second question: (This is just for my personal benefit.) Who do you like better: Natalie or Andrea? (I'm just seeing if I made them realistic enough.) That's all for now! Chapter 8 is coming soon! :)**_


	9. Chapter 8

_**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I've been really busy with school and stuff. (I know, bad excuse.) Anyway, I'd like to say thanks to my friend jesusfreak94 for proofreading a lot of this chapter and to Marril96 for always giving me great ideas! :) Now, onto Chapter 8 of H2O: Just Add Survival 2…**_

Chapter 8

July 1, 5:19 pm

Sirena Island

Rikki looked over the horizon, making sure that there were no ships in sight. Even though there had been no sign of Denman for days, she still had no idea if the woman was still searching for them. _Why didn't I just kill her? Then, we would only have to worry about that stupid comet! _Cleo tapped Rikki on the shoulder, startling her.

"Rikki, I need your help with Denman. You can search for Denman afterwards." The blond smiled at Cleo before following her away from the cliffs and back down to the beach.

"What do you think the others are doing on their islands?" Rikki asked, trying to make conversation.

"I just talked to Emma on the extra strength walkie-talkie that Ashley gave us. She and Bella are about to start eating. I bet that Natalie and Andrea are doing the same."

"You know…this is just like those first nine days on Sirena last year. Remember how much we argued?" Rikki laughed at the memory.

"Yes, I do. You never would do what I asked and you would mostly tan on the beach. What was it that you said? Oh, yes, now I remember. 'Actually, we are basically on vacation right now. I need to get _some _rays.'"

Rikki blushed. "Oops. Well, now I am a wilderness girl."

"It helps that Emma packed a lifetime supply of coffee." Cleo pointed to the large pile of instant coffee containers inside the cave. "Now you're not as crabby as you used to be last year."

"You weren't Little Miss Sunshine either, Face it, coffee helps."

Cleo rolled her eyes before pulling out the cooking utensils necessary to cook dinner. Rikki helped her and the two girls set out to make a fantastic meal.

~*O*~

Emma's Island

Bella hiked through the woods of Emma's island towards its moonpool. She had decided to explore while Emma was cooking. She walked over to the creek that hid the secret entrance to the moonpool. Bella walked in and dove under the surface, transforming into a mermaid.

Swimming on the bottom of the creek, Bella found the well hidden opening and swam into it. She came up in another room and dragged herself out of the tiny pool. After drying herself off, Bella walked down a tunnel to the actual moonpool. Twilight shone through the hole in the top of the cavern, sparkling on the magical waters. Bella sighed as she slid into the moonpool and waited for her transformation.

Sure enough, ten seconds later her tail appeared. She looked around the strange pool that held the familarness of Mako and Sirena, but still felt frightening and unwelcoming. She gently pushed off the side of the pool and floated on her back, peering up at the large hole that made this moonpool magical. Magic had always been the reason why Bella loved mystical caves like this so much. But, today the cave's magic wasn't helping.

It really didn't help that a larger comet was hurtling towards Earth at that very moment or that she and Emma were separated from Cleo, Rikki, Natalie, and Andrea. Also, the anniversary of Bella's transformation was coming up. For the other mermaids, the anniversaries of their transformations were happy occasions. For Bella, it wasn't.

The story that she had told Will about the day that had changed her forever was a lie. The actual tale was much harder to tell. Even thinking about it made Bella want to bury her face in shame…

_Flashback_

_August 9, 2001_

"_Mummy, will you come play with me?" nine year old Bella asked._

_Isabel Hartley looked down at her little daughter with a tired smile. "Bella, darling, Mummy has to work today. Go find Amelia and play with her."_

_The little girl's face fell, but she put on a bright smile for her mother. "Okay!" Bella left her mother's suite and went to look for Amelia Clark, her best friend who was the same age. Amelia usually was able to cheer Bella up when their mothers were busy. _

_Bella rode the elevator up to Amelia's floor. Her friend was already waiting for her when she opened the door. "Surprise!" Amelia shrieked. Bella jumped backwards in shock._

"_Don't scare me like that, Melia!" Bella scolded. Melia shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. _

"_I wanted to surprise you. Besides, I have something fun for us to do!"_

"_What?"_

"_We could go explore the sea caves by the cliffs! It sounds like such a lovely place, doesn't it?"_

"_I guess. But doesn't your mother not like you to go down by the ocean?" Bella remembered the many times that Melia's mother had warned her friend about the dangers of the sea._

"_Oh, who cares? Come on, let's go!" Melia tugged on Bella's blue dress sleeve impatiently._

"_All right, I'll go with you."_

_The two girls left the hotel that their parents worked in and headed for the bottom of the sea cliffs. As they explored the rocky beach, both friends laughed with pure joy. Then, Bella fell down a hole into a cavern, screaming the whole way down. Melia jumped in after her. She found Bella crying at the bottom of the hole._

"_It's all right, Bella," Melia soothed. "You're okay." Bella glared at her with searing fury. _

"_Melia, look where we are! This is _not _okay!" She pushed Melia down onto the sandy ground. "I'm going to go home." Bella walked away into a damp tunnel. Melia wiped away a few tears before following her friend._

"_Wait for me!" Bella was already at a moonpool, but she didn't know it at the time. Amelia came in to find Bella kneeling at the edge. She decided to get some payback. Quietly, she came up behind Bella and pushed her into the crystal blue water. The blond girl came up sputtering._

"_Melia, I should kill you!" Bella yelled at the brunette who was laughing hysterically. Bella grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her into the pool as well. "Serves you right," she said as Melia came up, gasping for air._

_All of a sudden, the water began to glow and bubble. The two girls shrieked and hugged each other in fear. A full moon rose over the hole in the top of the cave. Then, just as suddenly as the strange things had happened, they stopped. The pool turned back to normal, leaving the two friends in silent shock. Somehow, Bella found an underwater exit that led back to the beach. Bella and Amelia quietly agreed to forget that the night ever happened. But, life didn't work out that way…_

_End of Flashback_

Bella was silently weeping now, her tender tears dripping into the moonpool. She could barely stand to remember that August night that she became a mermaid. She wished that she could just forget that Amelia Clark ever existed. _Oh, Lord, why did I have to lose her?_

_Flashback_

_Fall 2001_

_Bella and Amelia surfaced in the Irish moonpool, laughing in pure joy. "I beat you!" Melia yelled in triumph. Bella splashed her._

"_Yeah, but it didn't help that you cut me off!" Her gold tail sparkled in the late afternoon sunlight. Amelia smiled at Bella and splashed her back. She ducked under to avoid getting splashed again, hitting Bella with her fin in the process. The blond spit saltwater out of her mouth before diving under the surface._

_Melia was trying to hide from Bella when she noticed a sparkle coming from the rock wall of the pool. To keep her friend from attacking her, Melia made a bubble wall with her boiling power so Bella wouldn't bother her. Then, she took a closer look at the rock. She saw what looked like a blue crystal wedged into the stone. _No problemo.

_She controlled the water by the crystal to make a knife to cut the crystal out. Sure enough, the teardrop shaped crystal fell onto the sandy bottom of the moonpool. Melia fished it out right as Bella used her freezing powers to cool down the boiling wall. Both girls surfaced. _

"_What were you doing down there?" Bella asked her friend while turning some water into jelly. "Anything interesting?"_

"_I found this," Melia said while holding up the blue crystal. Bella took it out of Melia's hand to examine it. _

"_It's really pretty. I wish I could wear it." Just then, the crystal flew out of Bella's grasp and stuck to a portion of the wall. "It's magic!" she gasped. _

_Melia swam over to it and pulled the crystal off with much difficulty. "It's just magnetic. There must be another crystal in the rock." Melia heated up the stone again and cut the crystal out. "Look, one for you and one for me." Melia placed a crystal in Bella's hand. "I'll get some string and make us friendship necklaces with them."_

_As soon as she said that, Melia began to create wind. It took all of her strength to stop herself. "Still having power troubles?" Bella asked with concern._

"_A little bit. I'll be fine. How are you doing?"_

"_I'm good. I think I might cause a few snow days this winter though." Bella smiled evilly._

"_Bella!"_

"_Just kidding! Relax."_

_The two girls then headed back home with the crystals, happy with their new lives._

_End of Flashback_

_But, our happiness didn't last…_Bella thought sadly. _Melia's powers were too great for her…she began to lose control of herself…_Bella stopped, not wanting to remember any more. Then, she heard rocks falling, and realized that Emma was sliding down the land entrance to the moonpool. Bella gasped and started wiping away her tears so Emma wouldn't know she had been crying. Knowing her friend, Emma would press and press until she knew what was wrong.

Bella finished covering her tracks right as Emma walked into the moonpool cave. "I knew I'd find you here," Emma said with a grin. "You're just like Rikki. You come here when you want to be alone."

"Then why are you here?" Bella whispered.

"I came here to tell you that dinner's ready. But, I think that I might join you for a dip." Emma smiled at Bella before diving into the moonpool. Ten seconds later, she appeared in her tail. "I just love that feeling," she said with a laugh. Bella gave a quick nod, still wanting to wallow in self-pity. _Why won't she leave?_

As soon as Bella thought that, the water in the moonpool began to glow. "Oh, crap," she whispered. As it bubbled, Emma looked at her, a scared look in her pale blue eyes.

"It's not a full moon! What's going on?"

"I have no idea," Bella admitted.

~*O*~

Bella's Island

July 1, 8:50 pm

"Andrea, where are you?" Nat yelled while ducking through dense brush. "This is not a game!" _Great, I sound like my mother._ Andrea had gone into the forest a few hours ago, but hadn't come back. So, Natalie went after her, trying not to trip over roots or get hit in the head by overhanging tree branches.

"BOO!" came a voice from high up in a tree. Natalie screamed and jumped a foot. Andrea hung upside down by her legs on a tree branch, laughing as if she had pulled the funniest prank ever known.

"Andrea Taylor Wilkens, that was _not_ funny!" Natalie scolded while trying to recover from her almost heart attack. Andrea moved her hand slightly and the branch gently set her on the ground.

"Sorry, Nat, but I couldn't help it!" She helped Natalie up off the ground. "Besides, I want to show you something!"

"What?" Natalie wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

"I found Bella's moonpool!" Andrea was tugging Nat in the direction of a big pile of rocks. "It's right here in these rocks."

"And why am I by these rocks?" Natalie asked.

"Because of _this_!" Andrea pushed Natalie into a hole in the middle of the enormous pile. The red haired girl soon found herself sliding down a tunnel on a waterslide.

"Andrea!" she wailed as her tail formed. She heard a splashing sound and realized that Andrea was following her. A minute later, Nat fell into a moonpool, Andrea right behind her. Natalie surfaced, almost in shock from the ride a mere minute earlier. "Wow, what a rush!" she gasped.

The other girl was sitting underneath the tiny waterfall that the waterslide let off, water cascading through her blond hair. "I know! It's sooo much fun!"

Natalie let her smile slip a little bit. "Andrea is it true that…"

"Is it true that what?"

"Is it true…that Alex loves me?"

Andrea's face grew red. "You remember that?"

"Well, yeah! I was thinking 'Oh my gosh, I'm dying, but a guy loves me!'"

"He told me a few weeks ago when he visited the townhouse last time. He said that he had fallen in love with you the first day he laid eyes on you. I was supposed to keep it a secret. Oops."

Nat smiled. "It's okay."

Just then, an eerie light came over the moonpool. "Uh, oh," Andrea said as the magical water began to work its magic.

"Great," Nat groaned as both girls fell into unconsciousness.

~*O*~

Sirena Island

July 1, 9:00 pm

Cleo surfaced in Sirena's moonpool, Rikki right behind her. Both girls had seen the half moon on the beach and became hopelessly under its control. Now, the moon had led both mermaids to the moonpool. The half moon came over the hole in the top of the cliffs. Cleo and Rikki both looked at it, Cleo lovingly, Rikki in fear. Rikki had regained a little bit of control back and she tried to fight the moon's power. But, she wasn't strong enough. The water in the moonpool held her fast as the moon slowly went over the hole. _I wonder how the others did. _That was Rikki's final thought as her world went black.

~*O*~

Bella's Island

July 2, 4:50 am

All was silent in the secret moonpool except for the water trickling off the waterslide. Then, auburn hair came flying up, spraying water everywhere. It was Natalie, gasping for a breath. "Andrea?" she called. Silence. "Andrea!" The young mermaid immediately dove under, coming back a minute later with Andrea limply lying in her arms. Nat swam over to a ledge and set Andrea on it.

"Come on sis, wake up!" Nat really wished that she had some smelling salts with her. Fortunately, Andrea stirred and her eyes opened. Natalie sighed with relief and hugged Andrea tightly.

"Sis…can't…breathe…let go," Andrea said breathlessly. The other girl obeyed and released her. "What happened last night?"

"I don't know. It was a half moon." _It's impossible for this to happen._

Andrea stared at her in shock. "Nat, I just read your mind."

"No way. That can't happen." _Maybe she got loopy since she lost oxygen._

Andrea put her hands on her hips and frowned. "Natalie DeGrand, I may act crazy sometimes, but I am _not_ loopy!"

Natalie realized that her friend spoke the truth. "Oh my gosh, you _can_ read my mind. Andrea, you have telepathy." Then, she heard her sister's voice in the corner of her mind.

_Nat, you have it, too. _Both girls looked at each other, dumbstruck.

~*O*~

Emma's Island

July 2, 5:45 am

On the sandy beach of the tiny island, Bella and Emma lay in unconsciousness. The waves gently lapped against their fins, keeping them in their other form. Emma stirred and opened her eyes, squinting in the bright sunlight. _What happened last night? _She felt like a truck had run over her while she slept.

Emma crawled over to the hut that she and Bella had built, her tail disappearing along the way. She got up and searched for the aspirin bottle. She found it and grabbed a bottle of water. _Only a few more weeks. At the next full moon, we'll defeat the comet and go back to Sirena. Then, I can get a hold of Ash and tell him where I am. He can contact Lewis and Will and they can come to our island. Hopefully Denman won't find us._

_Are you sure about that, Em?_ It was Natalie's voice. Emma dropped the water bottle, spilling the liquid all over her. She fell in her tail.

"Natalie?" she whispered.

_No, I'm in your head. Andrea and I have telepathy now. We received it during the half moon. Cleo has it, too._

_This is impossible, Nat._

_Then what are you doing right now?_

_I'm talking to you…oh my gosh…_

_Em, you have telepathy._

Emma couldn't speak, terrified of her new ability. Then, she saw the water bottle beside her explode. Emma screamed.

_Isn't that cool? _It was Andrea's voice. _We can see each other's powers now. When they're not around! You try it._

Emma shakily raised her hand up and froze the water pooling beside her. She heard shrieks of pure joy inside her head.

_Em, you did it! _Natalie cried. _You can do it, too! _

_But, what about the others? _Emma asked. _Can they do these things?_

_Yeah, they can. I don't know about Bella, though. Is she okay?_

_Yes, she's just sleeping. I'll see if she can when she wakes up._

_Okay, talk to you soon! Bye! _Nat's voice vanished then, leaving Emma in a state of shock. She shook it off before going to cook breakfast.

Meanwhile, Bella was having a horrible dream…

_Bella walked into the Irish moonpool with Melia, who was leaning against her. "I bet a soak in the pool will make you feel better, Melia," ten year old Bella suggested. _

"_I guess, Bella. But, the doctors don't know what's wrong with me. I'm just wasting away. I heard them say I only have a week to live."_

"_Trust me, Melia. I know what I'm doing."_

_Just then, nineteen year old Bella walked in, watching her younger self. She realized in horror what young Bella was planning. "No!" she screamed as Bella pushed Melia into the moonpool right as the solar eclipse happened. She could only watch in fear as Melia's energy was drained by the eclipse while her younger self sobbed "I'm sorry."_

"_Help me, Bella!" Melia screamed. "I need you!"_

"_I can't! I'm trying to help you!" Young Bella cried._

_Melia was shrieking in pain by now. The older Bella could hardly stand to watch helplessly on the sidelines. Then, Melia's face went stark white before sinking to the bottom of the pool as a human. Young Bella screamed Melia's name before jumping in after her, sacrificing her freezing powers in the process. _

_The present Bella then collapsed, not wanting to see Melia's death again. "It's all my fault…" she whispered before letting herself fade away._

_**Well, this was an interesting chapter! Sorry that it took so long, but my computer has been having issues and I've been having writer's block. But, I'm on Christmas break now, so I have two weeks of freedom to work on H2O: JAS. So, in case I can't get Chapter 9 up before Christmas, this is my Christmas present to you. Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope that they're great ones! **_

_**P.S.: Since everyone told me that they want Denman dead, she will die in a future chapter! :) Also, I'm going to try to get Chapter 9 up in less than a month! :) See you all soon! R&R!**_


	10. Author's Note

Author's Note:

Dear Reviewers,

I am soooo sorry that chapter 9 is not up yet. I have been extremely busy and the story finally just began to drive me insane. Right now, I really just need to take a break from H2O: JAS 2 and I am sorry because of it.

First of all, Chapter 9 is having issues. I have tried so many ways, but my brain is blocked no matter how hard I try to type the words I want to desperately share with you. It hurts me to write this to all of you devoted reviewers who have been so patient with me. I will take any requests for chapter ideas.

This is what I have planned for the next chapter: (Spoiler alert!) Please help me get this chapter finished so I can keep chugging along on the story.

Bella reveals her secret past to the girls who get angry at her since she lied to them.

The friends decide to practice their tower of light, but they are weakened because of their fury towards Bella.

All six girls begin arguing, causing the tower of light to fall into the moonpool that Emma and Bella are in. Emma pushes Bella out of the way, sacrificing herself. She vanishes into thin air.

Emma awakens in 1700's Ireland. She meets Eva and realizes that she has traveled back in time right before the original comet.

Natalie, Andrea, and Bella travel back to Sirena to be with Rikki and Cleo. Bella is mourning Emma's loss when Emma returns to tell Bella how to save her before she is locked in the past forever.

That's all I have for now, so if you have any ideas on how to expand these notes, please leave them in a review. It would be very appreciated since my brain feels like mush. :)

Anonymous: I would've messaged you, but you don't have an account. Don't worry, your age has nothing to do with my not updating. I am sorry that I made you think that way. I am simply a girl who gets lazy sometimes and needs a review like that to kick me in the butt and say, "Hey Aly, you need to write chapter 9 before your reviewers come after you with torches and pitchforks!" :D Thank you for reminding me before H2O: Just Add Survival became a forgotten story.

P.S.: I know that I made a typo on the Denman thing. I wrote that chapter in like two straight hours, tops so my reviewers wouldn't kill me. :) The line was meant to be: "Rikki, I need your help with _dinner._ You can search for Denman afterwards." Sorry that I messed up on it! But, "Denman" and "dinner" do sort of look alike. I probably just glanced over it while I edited the chapter. I didn't even realize my mistake until after the chapter was published. But, thank you for being alert!

Also, thank you to all of my reviewers for being so patient with me! I know that you can help me get through my writer's block! You are all awesome!

P.S.: I'm planning on writing four or five stories for the H2O: JAS series. They will be called: H2O: Just Add Survival 3: Return to the Sea and H2O: Just Add Survival 4: Losing Control. (Don't have a title for five yet.) I hope that those spoilers helped!

Hint: I have a little trick that I use when I'm waiting on a new TV episode to come on. I predict what might happen. It's actually a lot of fun for me. So, if I'm taking my own sweet time on a chapter, predict what might happen and send me what you think! I might use it instead of what I planned! (Marril96 can vouch for me on that since that actually happened once while she was helping me on this stubborn chapter!)

So, please review and give me some ideas because I am fresh out. At this point in time, I have been having stage crew practice after school and I am currently working on a Knight and Day fanfiction that I have been planning for a couple of months. I meant to start it after H2O: JAS 2, but I couldn't wait and I was able to work a little more easily on it and it gave my brain a break.

In conclusion, (stupid grammar is rubbing off on me) I really need you all to help me if you want another chapter of H2O: JAS 2. I'm sorry that it had to come to this and I have never wanted it to be this way. I hope that you understand.

Also, I have posted a poll on my account for which of my OC characters is your favorite! Do you want Natalie, Andrea, or Ashley to win? Vote to find out!

Thank you for listening to me vent for however long it took you to read this sorry excuse of a letter. Please understand how I feel. If it makes you feel any better, tears are gathering at the corner of my eyes as I write this. I'm very sorry once again.

Your friend,

Alyssa "Aly" Holloway


	11. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Emma's Island

July 2, 7:50 am

_**A/N: Yes, I finally finished this chapter! Thank you to all of my reviewers for being patient and helping me out with it! Don't worry, chapters 10 & 11 have already been basically planned in my mind. So, they hopefully won't be so difficult. **_

_**Also, here's how my poll is doing so far: August Havens, my newest OC character is first, with Andrea in a close second by 2 votes. There have been no votes for Natalie or Ashley. So, do you want my newest girl to win? Or do we want our feisty, sarcastic Andrea to win? Vote to find out!**_

_**This is totally random, but H2O: Just Add Survival is almost six months old! And, I'm planning on writing an anniversary oneshot for the one year anniversary of the series in August. If you have any ideas for it, PM me or stick it in a review! It can be anything! Maybe an elaboration of a favorite scene, or the adding of a scene to one of the stories. Maybe even an oneshot between the first and second stories! All right, I'd better shut up since I'm rambling. Enjoy the long awaited Chapter 9 of H2O: Just Add Survival 2!**_

Bella slowly awoke from her dream, still shivering in horror from it. _I killed Melia, _she thought with terror. _I killed her, and look what happened? _She reached a hand up to her throat to finger Melia's crystal necklace. Yes, Melia's. Her own crystal necklace was at the bottom of the moonpool in Ireland.

A voice shouted inside her head. _Bella!_

_Amelia? _Bella was stunned. Could her dead friend have been able to come back from the dead to haunt her? _Amelia, is that you?_

_Who's Amelia? It's me, Cleo!_

_Cleo? How can I hear you inside my mind? _Bella felt very violated for some reason. _I mean, my thoughts are supposed to be private!_

_You have telepathy! Last night, the full moon gave us new abilities._

_Oh, cool. _

_Are you okay, Bella? You don't seem like your normal self._ Cleo sounded concerned, but Bella didn't care.

_Cleo, I'm fine. I just woke up a few minutes ago, all right? I'm kind of not in the mood to talk to you right now. _Bella instantly felt bad as soon as the words were out of her mouth. "Melia, this is your fault!" she exclaimed softly. "Maybe if I had turned by myself, this never would've happened!"

_Bella, who's Melia? Who is she?_

_Shut up, Cleo! _Bella tuned her out, ran away from the beach, and headed to the creek. A few minutes later, she was sobbing heavily in the moonpool, clutching Melia's necklace tightly to her chest…

~*O*~

Sirena Island

July 2, 8:01 am

Cleo wiped away a few tears, willing them to leave her alone. She knew what she had to do. _Conference, girls! _Cleo called to her friends.

_Natalie: I'm here; what's up?_

_Rikki: Yeah, yeah, what do you want?_

_Andrea: Here!_

_Emma: Present!_

_Cleo: Okay, we're all here. Emma, what's up with Bella?_

_Emma: What do you mean? She seems fine._

_Natalie: Well, she did bite Cleo's head off when she tried to talk to her and called her "Amelia". Sorry, I eavesdropped._

Cleo was annoyed. _Anyway, that's what's up._

_Rikki: Who's "Amelia"?_

_Andrea: A grandma, maybe? It sounds like a grandma's name._

_Emma: But why would Bella call Cleo by her grandma's name? _(pauses) _I think that I need to check this out myself. I'll let you all know what I find out. _Emma then left the conversation.

~*O*~

Emma's Island

July 2, 8:14 am

Emma heard soft sobbing as she climbed out of the entrance pool that led to the moonpool. "Bella?" she said gently.

"Go away, Emma," Bella replied, her voice choked by tears. "I don't want to talk right now."

"Well, I do." Emma's tail had dried by this point, so she walked to the main cave. She came into the cavern to see Bella, face puffy from tears, clutching her crystal necklace to her heart. She was in the moonpool as a mermaid. Emma took a deep breath, knowing that she was about to open up old wounds. "Bella, who is Amelia?" she asked quietly.

Bella's face turned white. "How…how do you know about Melia?"

"Cleo told me. Who is she, Bella? We all want to know the truth." Emma was trying to be patient since Bella seemed as if she might pass out any moment.

Bella looked into the eyes of her friend, who was peering at her with concern. "You really want to know?"

"Yes, Bella. I want to know who Amelia is. We all do," Emma replied with determination.

This time, Bella took a deep breath. "Her name was Amelia Elizabeth Clark. She was my best friend in Ireland. We were the same age and our mothers worked together in the same hotel. We were inseparable." She paused for a moment, trying to find the right words.

"Go on," Emma coaxed. She understood that Bella was having a hard time talking.

"Melia and I were nine years old when we went exploring down by the cliffs. We fell down a hole…and found a moonpool. She pushed me in and I pulled her in right as a full moon went over the hole in the top. We transformed together."

Emma was in shock. _There is another Irish mermaid? _"Bella, why didn't you tell us? Where is Amelia?" All sorts of questions were tumbling around Emma's mind and she hoped that none of the other girls were eavesdropping.

"She's dead!" Bella shrieked. "She died when she was only ten years old! And…I killed her," she added through her tears.

"You killed Melia!" Emma became very scared. "Why…how…How did you kill her?" It was the only question that could escape her lips.

"It was an accident…" Bella stuttered as she began to tremble. "I didn't mean to. Melia's powers were too strong for her and she began to lose control of them. They took over her body. Her boiling power made her burn with a fever night and day and her controlling water power made her weak. The best doctors in the country couldn't help her and she started to waste away. I wanted to save her, to take her out of her misery…"

Emma cut her off. "So, what did you do? Shoot her? Strangle her? Stab her? Why would you do such a horrible thing, Bella? I thought you were my friend!" Emma pulled herself out of the moonpool, dragging herself down the tunnel towards the other pool. "Isabella Hartley, I never want to talk to you again! Once we get back to the Gold Coast, I don't want to see your face for the rest of my life!" With that, Emma dove into the other pool. Then, silence enveloped the secret caverns.

Bella buried her head in her arms, crying even more for herself and Melia. "Why did I have to kill you?" she whispered. "Why did I try to save you?"

Someone screamed inside Bella's head. _Murderer! You're a murderer! _It was Andrea. Bella covered her ears, trying to make the angry girl leave her alone.

Soft crying wound its way through her hands and Bella recognized it as Cleo. "Please, stop!" Bella cried.

Rikki's voice came next. _How could you have done this to us, Bella? You lied to us!_

"No, I didn't!" Bella screamed. "I didn't lie!"

_Why, Bella, why? _Natalie whispered painfully. _Why, Bella?_

_Murderer…you lied to us…I never want to see your face again…Why, Bella, why…you're a murderer…you killed Amelia…It's all your fault…_

"Shut up!" Bella shrieked, silencing the accusing voices. "Just shut up!" She dove underneath the surface, swimming out the other underwater entrance. _I have to get away from here…_

~*O*~

Pacific (Bella's) Island

July 2, 12:23 pm

Natalie and Andrea leaned against the hard rock of Pacific, or Bella's, Island. They had finally named it something else besides Bella's Island. "Why did Bella kill someone?" Natalie cried softly. "She was so nice!"

Andrea sat with her arms crossed, anger blazing in her violet eyes. "I don't know, but she did," she said through clenched teeth. "And to think that we've lived with a murderer all this time!" Andrea was furious with Bella's lies.

"I just want it all to go away," Natalie sobbed. "I want it to be normal again. "I mean, Denman is back, Bella's a murderer, we're all separated on these islands, and everyone probably thinks we're dead! What else could go wrong?"

"Nat, I don't even want to know."

"You know, we still need Bella's help for the tower of light."

"No, we don't! We have you, remember?"

"So? We'll need everyone's help to defeat this comet. I don't care that Bella's a murderer; we still need her."

Andrea rolled her eyes, knowing that she wouldn't win against Nat's stubbornness. "Fine. Let's ask Rikki, Emma, and Cleo what they think." The two girls concentrated on their friends. The crystals around their necks began to glow with a greenish light as Natalie and Andrea's magic spread to the other islands.

Rikki answered first. _What?_

_Rikki, we need your opinion on something, _Andrea asked politely.

_About what? _Rikki sounded suspicious.

_What do you guys need? _Cleo implored.

_We want to vote on whether or not Bella should help us create the tower of light, _Natalie said quickly. _I vote yes if that helps._

_I agree with Natalie,_ Cleo put in. _Everyone has to pull their own weight._

_Well, I disagree, _Rikki argued. _Bella's lied to us about a murder that _she _committed. Who knows what else she's lied about?_

_She said it was an accident, _a voice whispered. _Bella said it was an accident._

_Emma? _Natalie asked. _You agree with Bella?_

_Yes. Bella didn't really lie, she just didn't tell us about Amelia. And, I never let her tell me _how_ Amelia died. But, you all should've seen her face when she told Amelia's story. She was in true grief. I thought that she was faking it at first, but now I believe that she was telling the truth. Amelia's death was an accident. Bella didn't murder her._

_But, why wouldn't she tell us about her? _Andrea wondered. _Why wouldn't she tell us earlier about this girl that died so many years ago?_

_Maybe it hurt too much to talk about Amelia, _Nat suggested. _Maybe she just hid her friend deep inside of her so only she could grieve the girl's death._

_I think we need to apologize to Bella, _Emma said quietly. _We've probably hurt her more today._

_I agree, _Cleo replied. _How about we practice our new powers this evening, at our moonpools? We can practice creating the tower of light._

_That sounds great! _Natalie and Andrea exclaimed at the same time.

_I guess that's fine, _Rikki muttered.

_I'll go find Bella, _Emma said quickly. _Then we'll meet you at our moonpool around five. Is that fine?_

_Sure! _Everyone answered. Emma left the conversation then and headed away from the hut and back into the woods. Meanwhile, Bella was long gone…

~*O*~

_Earlier that Day_

Bella ran crying to the hut, half-blinded by the tears that refused to stop. _I have to leave. No one likes me anyway, now that they know the truth. I have to get out of here and find a new island. Maybe I can find a nice tropical one to live at until I can get to America. I can be like Ashley and start a new life for myself. I can create a fake identity and get married and have a few kids. That sounds great!_

She went to her side of the hut to get her few belongings she had brought to Sirena that Ashley had later transferred to Emma's island. She grabbed a teal and silver backpack and began shoving articles of clothing in it.

Then, she gently picked up the handcarved jewelry box that Will had given her for her nineteenth birthday. It had carvings of dolphins and other sea life on the outside, but if you opened a secret panel, it revealed a picture of six mermaids swimming in the sea together, tails painstakingly painted by Will himself. Bella brushed her finger against her green tail and Natalie's dark blue tail, trying to fight back tears.

Bella opened the jewelry box and looked at her treasures. The locket that Max had given her after the first shipwreck, a couple of pretty shells that she had picked up on Sirena's beach, her class ring from Gold Coast High School, and a few photos.

The photos were Bella's favorites. There was a picture of her and Will together after graduation, a picture of Rikki, Emma, Cleo, and Bella by the _Lorelei II_, the first boat that they wrecked, a picture of all six girls standing on the beach of Sirena Island after scattering Ashley's ashes, and a photo of all of the girls as mermaids in the Sirena moonpool.

There was a secret picture, too. Bella opened the secret panel again and pulled it out. _I won't cry, I won't cry…_She bit her lip as she looked at the picture of two young girls, one with blond hair, one with brown hair, laughing in a secret cave. _Me and Melia _was written on the back in a childish scrawl. Melia was wearing her glasses and had her hair back in a ponytail. She was the one who wanted the picture taken. Bella was sitting in the moonpool as a mermaid, her wet hair plastered against her small face. Melia was a mermaid, too in the picture.

They had set the camera on a large rock and put the timer on to take the photo. Bella gave a small smile as she remembered how they had snuck into their neighbor's suite, who was a photographer, to secretly develop the picture. They had destroyed all evidence, even the negatives from the camera. But, they had made two copies of the picture. _"One for you, one for me," _she recalled Melia saying. _"We always have identical things 'cause we're best friends!" _Bella examined the photo more closely to see the two matching crystal necklaces around her and Melia's necks. _I took yours, Melia…I wanted something from you besides a photo…_

Bella shook her head to make the memories go away. "I have to go," she told herself firmly. She put everything back in the jewelry box and shut it tightly, setting it inside the backpack. She found Emma's blue notebook and went to write a goodbye note.

_Emma,_

_I'm sorry that I have to tell you this, but I'm leaving. I can't stay here anymore and you don't need me anyway. Natalie has my powers and has good control over them. You can use her for my part. I need to get away from these islands and find what I'm really meant to do. I might end up like Ashley, but who knows? Goodbye forever._

_Your friend,_

_Isabella Marie Hartley_

_There, that's done, _Bella thought as she laid the notebook where Emma would find it. _Now, the hard part._ She walked out of the hut and towards the beach, scared out of her wits. She had done this once before last summer, when she first tried to escape her island. Bella had instead landed on a smaller island closer to Sirena. One day, she ended up looking right at a full moon, giving up completely. It brought her to Sirena, dying of infection and dehydration.

_No time for those thoughts now. _Bella took off the waterproof backpack, preparing for her new life. She made sure she had enough food in the bag before running into the surf. Within a few seconds, her lime green tail appeared. She got her bag and placed it on her back. She then dove under, heading away from her old life for good. _Goodbye, Emma, Rikki, Cleo, Natalie, and Andrea. Have good lives without me, Little Lizzie Borden. __**(Look up 'Little Lizzie Borden' on Wikipedia if you have no idea what I'm talking about.) **__Goodbye…_

Bella fought back tears as she kept swimming east, away from the three islands that had sheltered her the past few weeks. _Bye, girls. I'll miss you all. And goodbye, Isabella Hartley. It was great being you._ As she swam along, a song came into her thoughts.

_I don't know what I want, so don't ask me_

'_Cause I'm still tryin' to figure it out_

_Don't know what's down this road_

_I'm just walking, tryin' to see through this rain coming down_

_And I know I'm not the only one who feels the way I do_

_I'm alone, on my own_

_And that's all I know_

_I'll be strong_

_I'll be wrong_

_Oh, but life goes on_

_Oh, I'm just a girl, trying to find a place in this world…_

_**A/N: Sorry, I lied in my author's note! I'm actually stopping Chapter 9 right here, with Bella confused about her life and the girls trying to figure out what to do with her. Chapter 10 will have more action in it! (It will include the other things I told you about in my long author's note.) This was more of a drama chapter than anything. Chapters 10-12 will be very action packed! I will hint that there will be many power battles and Marril96 is loaning me a few things for it…:D**_

_**Oh, and I'd like to thank you all sooo much for sticking with me! I know that it's tough waiting on people to update! But, I think that I did a good job! Thanks to my cat Fat, too, for annoying me by rubbing his face all over my computer while I was typing! (Yes, Fat is actually his name. He was a very chubby kitten lol. He thinks that he's a dog and wants to be petted all the time! Don't you just love cats?) **_

_**Also, if you can guess the name of the song I used, I will give you cookies! (Just kidding. But, I will let you name Emma's Island if you guess correctly first! :D) Keep on reviewing, guys and I'll keep writing!**_


	12. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

July 2, 1:08 pm

Emma rushed towards the tiny hut, yelling Bella's name. "Bella, I'm sorry! I understand that you only accidentally killed Amelia! We all do!" She ran through the door, hoping that her friend was there. "Bella?" she called. No answer. She then saw the open notebook lying on the crude table she had built.

The blond girl was frightened as she slowly walked towards the table, feeling wary about what she was about to read. All of the color drained out of her face as she began to read Bella's familiar handwriting.

"Oh, no…" she whispered. "No, no, no…" She quickly ran out of the hut and towards the ocean. "Bella! Come back!" she screamed hysterically. Emma dove under the surface, her tail forming in the process. She began to frantically search the ocean floor for her friend. _Bella, can you hear me? _She hoped that Bella would respond.

_Em, what's going on? _Andrea's voice pierced her thoughts. _Where's Bella?_

_She's gone! _Emma shrieked. _She ran away because she thinks that we don't need her! _

_Oh, crap! I'll tell Natalie, Rikki, and Cleo. You keep looking. Just don't freak out, Emma. We'll find her!_

_Okay…_ Emma trailed off as she put on a burst of speed, propelling her further away from her island. _Come on, Bella, don't do this…_

~*O*~

Middle of the Pacific Ocean

5:31 pm

Bella swam as fast as she possibly could, trying to get many miles between her and Emma's island. She could see Emma searching for her in her mind, but she shook the thought away. _They don't care about you. You're a murderer, remember? _Bella nodded, agreeing with the little voice.

_You're right, _she thought. _They don't care about me. They are probably glad to get rid of me._ Bella kept chugging along, hoping to get to another island before dark. She surfaced, peering at the horizon for any sign of land. She smiled when she saw a small rugged island about ten miles west of her. Bella dove back under and headed towards land.

Around five minutes later, Bella was pulling herself onto the hot, white sand of the tiny island. She sighed as she threw off the heavy backpack and waited for her tail to vanish. _My new home,_ she thought. _At least for now._

_Bella! Bella, where are you, _someone sobbed inside her head. She recognized it as a very frazzled Emma.

_Leave me alone! _Bella shouted before tuning out Emma's voice. She couldn't have her friends trying to pull her back. _They don't care about me. I'm a murderer._ Her tail had dried off by then, so Bella got up and headed into a forest surrounding the beach. It was dark and a little bit scary, but Bella had seen worse. She found a clearing and gathered up some firewood. The girl sighed as she looked at the dry pile of wood. _This is when I wish Rikki was here. _She shook the thought away, not wanting to think about her past. _I'm not that girl anymore._

Eventually, Bella managed to start a small fire using her reading glasses and a stray beam of sunlight. She huddled by the fire, clutching her legs to her chest. Melia's crystal caught the firelight, letting off tiny rays of blue light.

Then, the light seemed to change, swirling into blue dust that surrounded Bella. She screamed and backed away, frightened by the magic coming from the crystal. The sparkly dust morphed together into the figure of a young girl with curly brown hair and dark brown eyes wearing a white sundress. The girl smiled. "Hello, Bella."

"Ashley?" Bella asked with surprise. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to keep you from making a big mistake. A mistake you're already starting to make."

"What mistake? I haven't done anything wrong."

"You've left your friends in a time that they greatly need you."

"They don't need me. Natalie has my power. They can use her."

"Bella, the tower of light won't work unless you all come together to create it. That means that you come back to Emma and you all meet at Sirena Island."

"But, don't we need all three moonpools' crystals to save the world? That's why we separated in the first place."

"I can't tell you much, Bella, but there will be an…event that will cause a great tragedy to your group. You will need to be together to save the world and your friendship."

"So…" Bella paused for a moment. "What will happen? Is Denman coming after us again? Will the tower of light not work? Is one of us going to die? You have to give me more than that, Ashley!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't. I can escort you back to Pallawa Island."

"What island?"

"That's what Emma named her island when she first shipwrecked there. It means 'hope' in Polynesian.' _**(Aly's Note :{It even fits the acronym 'A/N'!} "Pallawa" does not mean "hope" in Polynesian. Marril96 named it that after answering last chapter's question correctly first and I made up the translation.)**_

"Why didn't she tell us that?"

"That island almost sucked all of the hope out of her. She preferred to call it her island than its actual name."

"Oh, I see now. I still don't understand why they need me, though. They told me off this morning after finding out about Melia. Why would they want me back?"

"Wouldn't you be in shock if you found out Rikki had killed someone?"

Bella thought about that for a moment. "Not really."

"Oh yeah, wrong person. What about Cleo?"

"Of course! Cleo wouldn't hurt a fly, though."

"That's exactly my point. Emma, Cleo, Rikki, Natalie, and Andrea were just in shock to hear that you had killed someone. Then, they decided to forgive you, but you were gone."

"But, I didn't kill Melia on purpose. She…"

Ashley cut her off. "I know that, but do your friends? You didn't tell them the truth, so they're confused. I'll show you." With that, Ashley shaped some light to form a picture of Emma searching frantically for Bella, screaming her name. Another image formed of Natalie and Andrea trying to get in contact with Bella. The last was of Rikki and Cleo swimming towards Pallawa Island, almost exhausted.

Bella covered her mouth to stifle a gasp of surprise, tears trickling down her cheeks. _They actually care, _she thought.

Ashley gave her a quiet smile. "Are you ready to go back?"

Bella raised her tear-streaked face to smile gratefully to her guardian angel. "Thank you for showing me the truth, Ashley. I would've made a big mistake if you hadn't intervened."

"You're very welcome, Bella. Now, close your eyes."

Bella obeyed and Ashley shaped a protective blue ball around her. Bella's tail appeared as the ball sealed around her. Ashley smiled as she let the ball levitate off the ground and disintegrate into blue dust, Bella included. Ashley gently guided the dust in the direction of Pallawa Island before allowing it to streak across the sky as a shooting star.

"Good luck, Bella," Ashley whispered as she began to float off the ground, a soft wind blowing in her hair. "You're going to need it." She gently floated up and over the island, heading back to Heaven and knowing that she had completed another mission.

~*O*~

St. Vincent's Hospital

Sydney, Australia

July 2, 6:00 pm

The body of a badly burnt blond woman stirred in the stark white hospital bed. She opened her eyes and almost cried out at the pain of such a simple movement. "I'll kill them," Dr. Linda Denman muttered. "I'll kill them all."

"That won't be necessary, Dr. Denman," a familiar male voice said. Denman turned towards the sound to see a man wearing a suit sitting in a chair by her hospital bed.

"What do _you_ want?" she asked. "They're my project!"

"Ah, so you do remember me," the man said. "And you've failed to capture them twice."

"I captured Andrea Wilkens!"

"And she managed to escape within two weeks."

"You're not taking away my project, Stevens! Just Add Water has been mine since 2007!" Denman was terrified. She had heard terrible stories about Dr. Matthew Stevens, her bosses' right hand man. He had taken many projects away from her coworkers' right before they finally found the missing piece to the puzzle. Now, it seemed like he was going to do the same thing to her.

"I'm not here to take away the project. I'm here to help you capture those girls once and for all. I'm Dr. Matthew Stevens, at your service." He gave Dr. Denman a mock bow.

Denman scowled. "I know who you are and I don't need your help. I can catch them on my own."

"Your bosses don't seem to think so. Two weeks ago, a Chinese fishing crew found you, almost dead, clinging onto a piece of wreckage. I know that one of those mermaids did that to you. Rikki Chadwick, right?"

"Yes," Denman said reluctantly. "She tried to kill me. How did you know that?"

Stevens held up the manila folder with _Just Add Water _on the cover. "I read the file. I know everything about Emma Claire Gilbert, Cleo Hayley Setori, Rachelle "Rikki" Chadwick, Isabella "Bella" Marie Hartley, Natalie Angela DeGrand, and Andrea Taylor Wilkens. I can help you destroy them, Dr. Denman. I have the resources, the money, the plan. All I need is for you to trust me."

Denman raised an eyebrow, wincing. "For what price?"

Stevens smiled at her. "I like your attitude. Fifty percent cut."

"No way. Not while I'm still living. Thirty percent for you, buster."

The man's cocky smile wavered, but not for long. "Dr. Denman, you are lucky that I'm even including you in this endeavor. Your bosses have already put me in charge of the experiment while you were unconscious. I came to offer you a position as my right hand man-I mean woman."

Denman frowned. "Partner," she demanded.

"No way."

This time, the blond smiled. _I still have something up my sleeve, jerkface._ "That folder has some things about those mermaids, but you're missing one important little detail: the location of their secret island. Without that, which I have, you've got nothing."

Stevens sighed heavily as he looked at the determined blond doctor. "If I make you my partner, will you tell me where the island is?"

"Yes, but only when we're on a boat heading over there. I don't want you taking off without me." _Ha! Got you right where I want you._

The suited man rubbed his temples. "Fine. Your doctor said you'll be able to leave in a week. We'll start planning in the meantime. I already have a boat and partial team put together. You can help me pick out the rest."

Linda Denman smiled with pleasure. _Those girls won't escape me this time. If they do, it'll be over their dead bodies._

~*O*~

Pacific Island

6:19 pm

"Come on, Nat! You can do it!" Andrea said encouragingly as she watched her sister attempt to see Bella's whereabouts using her powers. Natalie's forehead wrinkled as she focused on a photo of Bella, lightly touching it. Images passed before her eyes of Bella's life, but there was nothing on where she was.

Natalie sighed heavily as the images stopped, leaving her feeling lightheaded. "It's no use. I saw nothing," she whispered sadly.

Andrea's shoulders drooped a little, but she tried to not let Nat see. Instead, she put an arm around her sister's shoulder. "It's okay. You tried your best."

The auburn haired girl threw Andrea's arm off and stood up, pacing on the sandy beach. "No, it's not okay! Bella is missing! Rikki and Cleo are trying to kill themselves getting to Emma's island and we're sitting here helpless! Don't you feel useless?" Natalie collapsed sort of dramatically onto the sand.

Andrea rolled her eyes. _Sisters. Can't live with them, can't live without them._ "Nat, you're not useless. I'm not useless. We've been trying for hours to make contact with Bella, but she's blocking us out. You've tried countless times to find out where she is, but she's even hiding that from your power. It's okay."

"I just wish…I just wish that we could help the others more. I mean, we're stuck here while Emma, Rikki, and Cleo are risking their lives searching for Bella. Can't we do more?"

The younger girl blew out a deep breath. "Well, what if we go to Emma's island, then? It's only a two day swim from here."

Natalie seemed to brighten. "That's a great idea! Maybe we can help find Bella!" She ran back to their hut to start packing. Andrea shook her head, smiling at her sister's antics.

"We're coming, Bella," she whispered. "Just hang on a little longer."

~*O*~

Pallawa Island

7:12 pm

A flash of light streaked across the evening sky, falling towards the ocean. It shattered in a dazzling display of blue sparkles. They formed together to reveal Bella, no worse for wear. _I'm back! _Bella thought happily. _I'm really back! Guys, I'm here!_ No one answered. _Guys? _Bella looked around the clear blue water, peering for any sign of her friends. _Emma? Em, I'm okay! You can stop freaking out now! _There was still no reply.

The girl grew quiet. _Was Ashley lying? Maybe they don't care about me after all!_ She twirled angrily away from the safe island, facing the direction from where she had come from. Then, she heard someone's voice.

_Bella…Bella, I'm here. _Bella gasped. She knew that voice.

_Melia? No, it can't be you. You're dead!_ Over the last nine years, Bella had heard her dead friend's voice in her head countless times, but always took it as a hallucination. She swam towards the beach, but felt like she was being dragged backwards. _Leave…me…alone! _Bella cried as she tried to swim away.

Just then, she realized that it wasn't her dead friend holding her in one spot. It was something else. _Oh, crap, a current! _She tried to fight it, but it was no use. The current dragged her towards a cavern underneath the island. Bella tried to grab the edges of the opening, but she was swept inside. Then, it magically closed, leaving Bella trapped inside.

_No! _Bella screamed. _No!_ She racked her brain as she thought of anything magical that could affect them. _Solar eclipse? No, thank God. Half moon…no…full moon…no…planetary alignment…no…lunar eclipse? _The girl gasped. _It is a lunar eclipse tonight! That must be _why_ the island is acting so weird! But, why would it trap me like this?_

_Because of me, Bella. _Bella turned around slowly as light shone through the strange cavern. Her eyes grew wide.

_Melia? _she cried.

~*O*~

Ashley had seen the scene and realized that what she knew had just been thrown completely out of whack. _The game has changed, _she thought as she saw Bella staring at her friend. She quickly teleported Natalie, Cleo, Rikki, and Andrea to Pallawa Island, hoping that she wasn't too late.

The young girl stole a glance at the clock, noticing the time. _Come on girls, there isn't much time. You have to prevent the event. _She knew that she couldn't use much of her teleporting powers at one time since it would cause her to lose them. But, she couldn't bear to just sit and watch. _Come on, you can do it. Save Bella, and then save yourselves. Don't go to the moonpool tonight, girls. It's special this time. You won't lose your powers, but something else will happen. Please don't go…_

~*O*~

7:27 pm

Emma swam back to Pallawa, crying inside. She hadn't found Bella. _It's all my fault. I was too hard on her. Why didn't I let her explain it more? I only accused her, and now look what happened! _She wiped her eyes as she crawled onto the beach.

"Emma?" She heard someone calling her. "Emma, where are you?"

"Bella?" Em yelled. "Bella, I'm here!" She dragged herself up towards the jungle, allowing the hot sand to dry off her tail. As soon as it vanished, she ran into the trees. "Bella!" She was tripping over roots and vines were smacking her in the face, but she didn't care. She sprinted into a clearing and stopped when she saw who it really was.

It was her friends. Cleo, Andrea, Natalie, and Rikki all gave her apologetic looks. "Sorry, but we're not Bella," Rikki said sheepishly. Emma slumped down on a log.

"I feel like a total idiot now," she said while placing her chin in her hands. "How did you guys get here?"

"Ashley brought us," Cleo replied. "She said that we needed to be together, that Bella needed us."

"Well, where is Bella, then?" Emma asked impatiently. "Is she on the island?"

"Yeah," Andrea put in. "At least, that's what Ashley told us."

_Guys, help! _All five girls froze at the weak voice.

_Bella!_ They all screamed at the same time.

_Where are you? _Emma implored worriedly.

_Why'd you leave? _Cleo cried.

_We're really sorry,_ Natalie managed to slip in.

_Guys…I need you…my oxygen's draining…trapped in a cave…Melia's- _Bella was cut off.

"Oh, crap!" Rikki yelled, shattering the awkward silence.

"We've got to find her," Emma said firmly. "Before it's too late."

"I thought we could breathe underwater for a really long time," Andrea wondered.

"Only about an hour," Cleo explained. "That's the longest we've recorded before having to go back up to the surface."

"We don't have time for this!" Emma shouted. "Bella is dying and it's our fault that she's in this mess! Come on!" Em then turned and ran towards the beach, diving into the water once she reached it. Right behind her was Rikki, followed by Cleo, Natalie, and Andrea. The girls waited for their tails to appear before swimming quickly around the island, looking for a cave-in. _Hold on Bella,_ Emma thought. _We're coming._

~*O*~

Bella turned around and found herself face to face with Amelia Clark. _Melia, is that you? _She whispered.

Melia, who didn't look a day over ten years old, smiled. _Yes, Bella, it's me. Nice to see that you've grown up without me._

_How…how are you here? _Bella asked, feeling very frightened.

_You didn't kill me, Bella. When you pushed me in, I disappeared, remember?_

Bella nodded, remembering the horrifying moments after she had realized what she had done. _What happened to you?_

_I was brought to another world. A world in the past where I never aged. I'm still trapped there to this day. _Melia was crying by this point.

Bella felt horrible. _I'm sorry, Melia. It was all my fault you were sent there in the first place. _

_It's not your fault, Bella. You were trying to save my life. I was going to die if you hadn't have exposed me to the solar eclipse._

The other girl was staring at Melia's orange tail. _You're still a mermaid. Do you still have your powers?_

_Yes, but they're very weak. I can barely use them._

_Why did you bring me here, Melia? I mean, my friends are worried about me. They just found out that you exist._

_I need you to get me out of here, Bella. Only a mermaid from the present can free me of this world._

_I'll do it. How did you get in?_

_You have to be exposed to the moonpool during an eclipse, which is tonight. If you create a great source of power, you can get in. At least, that's what I've heard._

_I promise that I'll save you. It's the least I can do._

_Thank you, Bella. I'll be waiting. _Melia reached out her hand to Bella, who grabbed it to shake it. All of a sudden, a sharp pain ripped through Bella's body, causing her to scream. Melia gasped. _Bella, I'm so sorry! I forgot how much energy I have in me. Bella? Bella, are you okay? _

Bella's limp figure began to glow, from her head to the tip of her fin. Then, she fell to the bottom of the cave, unconscious. She barely managed to send her friends a message before everything went black.

~*O*~

The girls were screaming Bella's name, trying to find a response. Natalie and Cleo examined the cave walls, trying to find any cracks. _You guys, even if we find Bella, how are we going to get her out? _Rikki asked while looking at a suspicious looking crack.

_I have no idea, _Emma replied. _But we have to repay her somehow. _She kept fingering the smooth rock, searching for any clue of her friend.

Andrea swam up to a large piece of stone, flicking her pinkish-orange tail gently to keep her in one place while she studied the stone. She gasped when a current threatened to pull her away from the stone. She grabbed a hold of a notch in it and held on. _You guys, I found something! _

The others swam over to find Andrea clinging to the rock while fighting a current. Cleo held up her hand and steered the current in the other direction. Rikki made her hand into a fist, melting the hard rock. Finally, Andrea forced her hand up, exploding a mermaid-sized hole into the stone. All the girls swam in and stared in shock.

There was Amelia Elizabeth Clark, bending over Bella, sobbing uncontrollably. _Come on, wake up! _She was crying. Emma rushed over to Bella's side, lifting the girl's head into her lap. Bella didn't respond.

Rikki and Cleo shook themselves out of the surprise they had been in and hurried over to their friend. Nat and Andrea stood awkwardly out of the way, not really sure what to do. Melia looked up at them. _Hi, I'm Melia._

_We know who you are, _Natalie said. _How are you not…you know, dead?_

_I survived the solar eclipse by traveling into the past. That's all I really remember. I came to tell Bella that I forgive her since she saved my life._

_We've got to get to the moonpool, _Emma interrupted. _Usually, if something magical happens to us, the moonpool will fix it. _The other girls nodded and Rikki and Cleo went to help Emma carry Bella.

_I have to stay here, _Melia said sadly. _If I don't, I'll be trapped forever._

The other girls gave her sad smiles. They understood, but felt sorry for the poor girl. _Goodbye, _they all cried. Then, they left, carrying their unconscious friend with them.

_Please remember your promise, Bella, _Melia begged. _I want to be free._

~*O*~

Rikki surfaced in Pallawa's moonpool first, helping Cleo and Emma carry Bella. Natalie and Andrea came up after the four girls. "You guys, what are we going to do about Bella?" Natalie asked worriedly as she looked at her lifeless friend.

"I don't know," Cleo admitted. "When Rikki overheated on a full moon, we brought her to the Mako moonpool and it 'healed' her. Maybe it can heal Bella, too."

"What if we combined our powers?" Andrea suggested. "Maybe a great source of energy can help her."

"It's worth a shot," Rikki said.

Emma and Natalie both agreed and Cleo started a tower of light by forming a water tentacle. Rikki went next by adding her lightning power for energy. Emma froze the tower for strength and Natalie jellified it a little for elasticity. Finally, Andrea threw up her hand, causing the tower to fly up with a massive amount of force. The tower of light spun around them, glowing with energy and power.

Nat laughed. "This is so cool!" Water was flying everywhere, throwing spray into the girls' faces, but they didn't care. All of a sudden, the pool began to glow strangely.

"What's going on?" Emma yelled. Everyone gasped as their powers seemed to fade, like they were losing control of them.

"No, no, no, no, no," Andrea cried as she tried to force her power to obey her. Nothing seemed to work and the tower was growing more massive by the second.

Cleo looked up at the hole at the top of the moonpool and screamed. "It's a lunar eclipse!" she cried.

Emma and Rikki screamed, too. They had experienced a lunar eclipse before. The moonpool was already bubbling and their powers were fading. Before long, their tails would vanish. "Come on, we've got to get out!" Rikki yelled while grabbing Andrea's arm.

"What's happening?" Natalie asked. "It isn't a full moon!"

"Just get out! We'll tell you later!" Emma ordered as she offered her hand.

Cleo swam over to the edge of the moonpool where the tower of light was blocking it. She tried to pass through it, but it was rock solid. "Let me out!" she screamed. The brunette girl turned around to her friends, her face chalk white. "We're trapped!" Cleo yelled over the wind.

Rikki let go of Andrea and swam over, trying to boil a hole through. Nothing happened. "It's no use!" she said. "Our powers are already gone!"

"Our powers are gone?" Natalie put in, seeming like she might faint. In fact, she did, slipping beneath the surface of the moonpool. Bella awoke right as Emma dove under to get Nat.

"What's going on?" she asked, watching Andrea beat her fists on the tower of light. "Why are we here?" Rikki whipped around.

"Bella, you're okay!"

"I repeat, what's going on?" Bella repeated, getting a little frustrated.

"Umm…we may just have a little situation," Cleo replied, chewing on her lower lip.

Bella raised an eyebrow. "What kind of a situation? Rikki, what did you do?"

"And, of course you blame it on me!" Rikki retorted.

"It's because you always do something stupid! Remember that speeding ticket a few weeks ago at the airport?"

"You're never going to let me live that one down, are you?"

"I might, but Em never will. She had to pay for it, remember?"

"You guys!" Andrea yelled, breaking up the argument. "If you haven't noticed, we are trapped in a moonpool during a lunar eclipse! And, we might die, so I would apologize before we do!"

"A lunar eclipse…" Bella trailed off, remembering Melia's cries for help. _The tower of light would be a big source of power, wouldn't it?_ Quickly, using the little bit of her power that she had left, Bella crystallized the tower of light, letting off a beam of blue light into the sky. Emma and Nat came up right as she did. Everyone screamed as the moonpool shook like Natalie had caused an earthquake.

Beams of light began zooming everywhere, bouncing off the side of the tower. Nat grabbed Andrea's hand, clutching her sister to her. "This is the end!" she yelled. "Goodbye, you stupid cruel world!"

"Natalie, don't be so dramatic!" Em managed to yell.

Just then, the sun went over the moon, causing a great ray of white light to form. Bella stood in the middle of the moonpool, staring at it. "Yes…" she whispered. "Come on, baby. I need to save Melia." The other girls were shielding their eyes, hoping and begging that the end would come quickly.

"I love you guys!" Cleo yelled to Emma and Rikki. "You'll always be my best friends!"

"I'm sorry for anything I ever did that was crazy or stupid!" Rikki admitted. "Even for wanting to return that counterfeit bill or following Barry Rollins!" _**(Aly's Note: Barry Rollins is the fish smuggling guy, if you didn't know.)**_

"I'm sorry that I was such a control freak!" Emma shrieked. "If we survive this, I promise that I won't alphabetize the fruit at the café ever again!"

"I'm sorry that I broke your iPod, Rikki!" Andrea yelled.

"You WHAT!" Rikki replied, forgetting where she was.

"It was an accident! I was trying to find an app and I dropped it. It broke when it fell on the kitchen floor!"

"You said that it slipped off the deck during the hurricane!"

"I lied! Don't you remember that I'm very good at doing that?"

"It's true, she's like a younger version of you," Natalie put in.

It was too late to say anything else, for the beam had just shot from the sky, heading straight for Bella! "Bella, move!" Emma screamed, knocking the girl out of the way, accidentally taking the hit herself.

"_No!"_ Bella shrieked as she saw Em get hit by the eclipse's beam. _"No!"_

All the other girls stared in both shock and disbelief as Emma was brought up out of the water in a water ball. She was kicking and fighting, but the ball wouldn't budge. "Emma!" Cleo cried as she brought up her hand. She tried to control the ball, but nothing happened.

Meanwhile, Emma started to turn into gold light, starting with the tip of her tail. Bella was bawling. _That's supposed to be me! Why did she do that? _Em was glowing now with gold light. Wind blew, blowing through the mermaids' hair.

"She sacrificing herself like Eva," Cleo whispered as Emma's head became engulfed by the light. Then, like a shooting star, Em was sucked through the hole in the top of the cave, streaking through the sky. The eclipse was over now, with only the night sky showing. Cleo and Natalie were the next to break into tears.

"Emma saved Bella, but we couldn't save her!" Natalie cried through her tears. The tower of light was slowly vanishing, and soon the girls would be able to escape. Rikki couldn't even speak because of a lump in her throat, but tears flowed freely down her face. Andrea tiredly leaned against Nat's shoulder, and Bella clutched Melia's necklace.

_I let you down, Melia, _she thought. _I'm sorry. I'm so sorry._

"She was so brave," Andrea said. "She accepted her fate without any tears." The girls all nodded except for Bella, who was pale as a ghost. Cleo took Bella's arm and helped her out of the pool. The others slowly got out and Rikki dried them off. Then, they walked out of the cave, not wanting to look back and wanting to just forget what had happened.

~*O*~

_Unknown Location_

_Unknown Time_

Emma screamed as she was forcefully thrown to the ground, gold sparkles falling all around her. She sat up and rubbed her neck that had been slightly tweaked during her journey to…well, wherever she was. Em stood up and gasped when she tripped over some fabric underneath her feet. She looked down and saw that she was wearing a floor length blue skirt. _When did I change clothes? I was wearing Bermuda shorts today._

She spun around and realized that she was standing on top of a cliff. Far below her, waves crashed against the rocky shore. _Where am I? How did I get here?_ Her breathing was heavier and she realized that she was also wearing a corset. _Okay, that is definitely coming off at the next convenient moment. _

"Hello?" she asked, looking around the dark night. "Is anybody here?" A light suddenly appeared, heading straight for her. Emma gasped and backed up a little. It came closer and she discovered that it was a lantern held by a young girl.

"Who are you?" the girl implored, brushing a wisp of fiery red hair behind her ear. Emma recognized an Irish accent in the girl's voice.

"I'm Emma," she said, noticing that the girl was wearing 1700's clothing.

"Come with me," the girl said, motioning for Em to follow her. "Do you have a place to stay?"

"No," Emma admitted.

"Then, come. You can stay at my family's inn."

"Wait, who are you? Where am I?"

The girl turned around. "You're on Scattery Island in Ireland. And my name's Eva. Eva Collins."

Emma's eyes grew big, but she followed the girl. It wasn't like she had anywhere else to go, anyway. _But what am I to do?_

_**End of chapter 10! What do you all think? Sorry that I haven't updated, but I had to give a little love to my Knight and Day story because my reviewers were about to riot. What will happen to Emma? Will she find Melia in Ireland? Will the others be able to survive without her organization skills? Will Denman and her new partner Stevens track them down again? And how will Emma escape the past? You'll have to find out in chapter 11!**_


	13. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Pallawa Island

July 3, 7:21 am

A sunrise rose over the horizon, brightening the rugged island. Inside a tiny hut, five girls slept. They were spread out all over the place. Cleo and Natalie were sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags, Bella was curled up in an old quilt, and Rikki and Andrea were in two hammocks that Emma had made from a couple of old fishing nets.

Bella quietly opened her eyes and brushed a few tears out of her eyes that refused to go away. She sat up and slowly stood and walked over to the door, not wanting to wake up anyone else who might shoot her. (Rikki, for example) Only when she was outside on the beach did she allow herself to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Emma," she whispered. "It's my fault that you're trapped in the past with Melia. And I'm sorry, Melia. I meant to come after you, not Emma." Bella sat down on the sand and watched the waves crash against the shore. _It's all my fault. If only I could've stopped Emma from pushing me away._ She rested her chin on her knees, crying again.

"Bella, are you okay?" Bella turned around to see Natalie, her auburn hair braided into one thick braid, coming towards her.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Nat replied with a quiet smile. "You're upset about Emma. It's okay, we all are."

"I told you, Nat, I'm fine." Bella tried not to think anything that revealed her true thoughts.

Natalie gave her a look of disbelief. "I don't believe you. Last night, you watched one of your friends vanish to who knows where and almost drowned in an underwater cave. Isabella Hartley, you are not okay."

"Fine, I'm not! It's my fault Emma's trapped anyway! I was planning to go and save Melia last night, but Em pushed me out of the way!"

The other girl smiled quietly and sadly. "I understand how you feel. You're feeling guilty that you were left behind and Emma wasn't. I know why you feel that way."

"Natalie, how can you possibly know how I feel?"

"Because I saw my mother drown right before my eyes, Bella! And my father and brother drowned the same night I wrecked on Sirena last year! I feel guilt all the time because I survived and they didn't! Why do you think that my family didn't appear at the hospital last year? It's because they're dead! I packed up everything and moved to California to keep an eye on Andrea for Alex because she needs me to be her big sister and I need her! And when she almost died, it almost killed me because I was supposed to protect her!"

Bella could only stand in shock. "Your family is dead."

"Yes. My dad and Chris died that night. They never recovered the bodies, but our boat was found last winter around Christmas. You're only the second person I've told. I told Andrea on Christmas Eve last year."

"Wait, so your entire family is dead? You're all alone?"

"Yes, but I have Andrea, who is like my little sister. You know that."

"Nat, why in the world didn't you tell us?"

Natalie stood with tears streaming down her face. "I don't know. I was scared at first when I finally found out. I mean, I'm only eighteen! I didn't know what to do! At first, I thought they were just missing at sea, but it has been a year since the accident. They have to be dead."

"Natalie, I'm so sorry. I guess you do know how I feel."

"I do. Because _I'm _the one out of my family that was left behind in this world. I'm exactly the same as you."

"Nat, you really should've told us. We could've helped you grieve."

"It's fine, Bella. Right now, we need to focus on saving Emma, defeating the comet, and making sure Denman doesn't capture us."

Bella raised an eyebrow. "That seems like a big to-do list."

Natalie smiled for the first time that morning. "But it has to be done." All of a sudden, the wind seemed to pick up and lightning lit up the sky. Dark clouds grew on the horizon. "What's going on?" Nat asked as her braid whipped across her face.

"A storm, Nat. What do you think is going on?" Bella got so annoyed at Natalie's blondness sometimes. Then, the wind blew even harder, threatening to blow the girls over. "We'd better get inside!" Bella yelled over the squall. She held out her hand to Natalie since it was getting dark very fast and the wind was strong. Nat took it and they attempted to make their way back to the hut.

Right as they were about to go inside, a large branch came from one of the jungle trees and rammed into the house, destroying a major portion of it. "Andrea!" Natalie screamed, concerned for her little sister.

"Rikki! Cleo!" Bella cried. Natalie and Bella ran into what was left of their shelter and searched for their friends. A piece of debris flew up, revealing Cleo, who had used her power to remove part of a hut wall off her. Bella helped her up as Natalie found Rikki underneath the table, a little bit dazed. Cleo and Bella supported Rikki while Natalie searched frantically for Andrea.

"Andrea!" Natalie shrieked over the wind. "Where are you?"

"I'm over here!" Andrea yelled from behind her. Natalie jumped and turned around to see her sister standing right in front of her.

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" Nat scolded.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Andrea replied with a smile.

"Um, don't you think we need to get out of here?" Cleo asked.

"But where should we go?" Rikki replied. "We can't stay here."

"What about the moonpool?" Bella suggested. "It's sturdier than the hut, anyway."

"I don't care, but we need to leave _now_!" Rikki shouted. The five girls ran towards the churning ocean and dove in, hoping to make it to their sanctuary. As soon as they entered the water, a fierce current threatened to rip them apart.

_Grab each other's hands! _Cleo screamed. _We don't want to get separated!_ She reached out to Rikki, who was fighting the current's grasp. Rikki reluctantly grabbed it and Bella held onto Rikki's other hand. Natalie had already gotten Andrea and Cleo grabbed Natalie's hand. Then, Cleo used her power to make the current not as strong, letting go of Rikki for a moment.

With the current out of the way, the five mermaids swam to the moonpool, breathing heavily as they surfaced. "What is going on out there?" Natalie asked, shivering from the unusual coolness of the water.

"I don't know, nothing like this has ever happened to us before," Cleo admitted.

"Maybe it's just a freak storm. No big deal," Andrea put in.

As soon as Andrea finished speaking, a huge gust of wind blew through the cave. Everyone screamed and held onto one another. "Okay, maybe it is a big deal!" Andrea yelled.

The wind whipped around them, seeming to almost rip them out of the pool. It took all of the girls' strength to keep them in the moonpool. Then, there was a bright flash of light and Emma appeared!

Everyone stared in shock. "You're alive!" Natalie screamed over the wind.

"Well, no duh, Nat," Andrea replied.

"Where are you?" Bella managed to say.

"Somewhere in the past," Emma said, her blond hair and long blue dress whipping around her. "I've met Eva, though!"

"That would put you in 1740!" Cleo yelled. "What else has happened?"

"You're not going to like it," Emma answered with a frown.

"Just tell us!" Rikki ordered.

"I've found Melia!" The entire moonpool went black.

~*O*~

_Scattery Island, Ireland_

_Summer 1740_

Emma cautiously followed Eva Collins through a dense forest towards a small village. "Just how did you find yourself on the cliffs?" Eva asked her. "You didn't plan on doing anything stupid, did you?" She looked at Emma with concern.

"Oh, no," Emma reassured her. "I'm…just traveling, that's all. I'm meeting someone in…uh, Dublin." She couldn't think of any other Irish city.

"Well, you're a long way from Dublin, miss. You can stay in our inn for now." The two girls walked towards a stone cottage that had a wooden sign reading, _Maighdean Cuan. _"It means 'Mermaid Haven' in Gaelic," Eva explained.

_I should feel right at home, then, _Emma thought. "Why 'Mermaid Haven'?" she asked.

"Legends claim that mermaids used to frolic in the bay by our village when my great-grandfather was alive. He and his wife built an inn by the bay and named it 'Mermaid Haven' in honor of the mysterious mermaids. But, you shouldn't go looking for mermaids, though, Miss…"

"Gilbert," Emma finished for her. "But please, call me Emma. Why shouldn't I go looking for mermaids, though?"

"They're dangerous!" Eva cried. "They'll lure you into the water and suck you down to their kingdom under the sea! That's what happened to a young man about a hundred years ago. He was walking along the beach and a mermaid sang to him. He became entranced and followed the mermaid into the ocean. She then captured him and he drowned when the mermaid dragged him under. So, you don't want to be messing with mermaids, Miss Emma."

"All right, I won't," Emma promised with her fingers crossed behind her back. Eva and Emma then entered the inn. Eva took off her shawl and hung it up on a hook by the door.

"Mum!" she yelled. "We have another guest!"

"Eva Felicity Collins!" a female voice scolded. "Please talk more quietly! Our guests are sleeping." A woman with Eva's fiery red hair and blue-green eyes walked down a wooden staircase towards the two girls. Her forest green dress trailed after her. "I'm sorry," the woman apologized to Em. "But my daughter has some problems with acting ladylike sometimes."

"Oh, it's okay," Emma replied. "I have some problems, too."

"I'm Mara Collins," Eva's mother introduced herself. "And I see that you've met my daughter, Eva. Who are you?"

"I'm Emma Gilbert and I'm meeting a friend in Dublin." Em decided to make that her cover story for the time being.

"I found her on the cliffs, Mum," Eva explained. "Even though I still don't know what she was doing up there." She gave Emma a look.

"I was admiring the moon," Emma lied. "I love watching the stars during the summer."

"Well, we can put you in the loft with our other female guest," Mara said thoughtfully. "She probably won't mind."

"She's more like a friend, though," Eva interrupted. "She's been here for about a year, ever since we found her wandering aimlessly through town."

"Eva, don't gossip," Mara scolded. "Now, take Miss Gilbert upstairs so she can rest. She probably doesn't want to hear your stories at ten o' clock at night more than I do." She smiled at Em. "Fourteen year olds, can't live with them."

Eva secretly rolled her eyes. "Do you have any luggage, Miss Emma?"

"Um, no, I don't," Emma answered truthfully. "My carriage broke down and fell into a river. All my luggage was destroyed. The driver went to go get help and I left to find a place to stay."

"How terrible!" Mara exclaimed. "You can borrow some of Eva's clothes in the morning. I think you two are about the same size." With that, she said goodnight and went up to bed. Eva directed Emma up the staircase and to a ladder that led to a loft.

"You'll get along fine with our other guest. She's really nice." Then, Eva left for her room. Emma climbed up the ladder awkwardly (it's hard to climb in a corset and floor length dress) and found herself in a small room. Two twin sized beds with brightly covered spreads took up most of the room. A table with a pitcher and bowl was in a corner, along with a large cupboard for clothing. The floor was wood and swept clean. A young girl with shoulder length brown hair and blue eyes sat up in bed and stared at Emma.

"You're not Bella!" she cried.

Emma looked at the other girl in surprise. "Melia?" _**(Aly's Note: Yay, Melia was found! :D)**_

"Where's Bella?" Melia ordered. "She promised that she would come!"

The blond girl realized what she had done. _Bella was supposed to be hit by that light, not me! How could I have been so stupid?_ "Um, I accidentally knocked Bella out of the way and came in her place. I'm a good friend of hers." Emma replied cautiously since Melia seemed really ticked.

"What? Why would you do that? Bella was supposed to come, not you!" Melia's eyes narrowed. "How do I know that you're even a friend of Bella's? You could be lying. What is Bella's full name?"

"Isabella Marie Hartley," Emma stated without breaking a sweat. That one was easy.

"All right, I'll give you that one. But, what is her favorite fruit?"

"Her favorite fruit?" Emma raised an eyebrow. "Strawberries," she answered.

"Okay, so you got that one." Melia was looking Em over. "You seem really familiar, though."

"Fine, I'll just show you, then." Emma walked over to the pitcher and bowl and poured some water into the bowl. She swished her hand around and ten seconds later, fell to the ground in her tail. Melia stared at her.

"Who are you again?"

"I'm Emma Gilbert," she replied. "I'm one of Bella's friends."

Melia smiled and held her hand out. "I'm Amelia Clark, but you can call me Melia. Sorry for the interrogation session, but I didn't know that you were really Bella's friend. Have you come to get me out?" she asked eagerly.

"Yes," Em answered honestly. She did want to free the ten year old, she wasn't cruel. "How long have you been stuck here?"

"Ten eternal, boring years," Melia said with a groan. "Each one longer than the others."

"But, Eva said that you'd only been at the inn for about a year."

"That's because at the end of every year, I'd fail my mission and get sent back to the beginning of the year. This is my tenth go-round."

"So that's why you haven't aged," Emma said thoughtfully. "What's your mission?"

"Do you know the story of Eva Collins? Her mermaid story, that is."

"Only that she saved the lives of her people by creating the first tower of light."

"Well, it's a bit more than that. Eva died that summer night because she did not have enough magic in her to save her people and herself. So, she sacrificed her own life to save her country. When I arrived here, my mission was to save Eva from killing herself by helping her create the tower of light. But, even with me we're not strong enough. So, every year, we both die and I get sent back to the beginning of the year.

This is my last chance, so I took a risk and tried contacting Bella to see if she could help since a lunar eclipse was coming up. She agreed and promised to come and assist us. But, imagine my surprise when you showed up instead!"

"Yeah," Em said sheepishly. "Sorry about that. There's six of us mermaids including Bella and I in the present. We were all in the moonpool when the lunar eclipse happened. Bella was willing to sacrifice herself for you, but I knocked her out of the way. Next thing I knew, I was here."

"Well, what power do you have?"

"I can freeze water and create storms; along with seeing another mermaid's power when she's not around and having telepathy."

"That's perfect, then! You see, I can control and boil water, while Eva can turn water into jelly. You're the perfect mermaid to help us!"

"And I want to help you, too. You don't deserve to be stuck in the past for ten years."

"Actually, if I fail this time, I'll be stuck somewhere else, in another time, for eternity. I'll never age or be able to contact anyone from my old life again. That's why I needed another mermaid this time."

"Who told you all this stuff, anyway?"

"A woman appeared to me right after I arrived and explained it all to me. She was a mermaid, too, so I believed her. And I know she was telling the truth since mostly everything she told me came true."

Emma was trying to process all of the information Melia was telling her. "So, is that the only way to escape?"

"Well, no. The other way is much harder. It involves mermaids from the present and I wasn't able to contact anybody for ten years, so I couldn't use it."

"What do you have to do?"

"Okay, I'll tell you. There are five moonpools around the world, besides your Mako Island and that Sirena Island. Each one of them has crystals. There's Scattery Island that we're on, one in Spain (I forget what it's called), Ooha'oma Island in Hawaii, _**(Aly's Note: Yes, Marril96 knows that I'm using her island. She has been very generous by letting me borrow it! :D) **_um…I don't know what it's called in French, but it's Serenity Island in English (that one's in France, of course), and there's another one in Japan, but I don't know what it's called, either.

Anyway, the idea is that five mermaids have to get one crystal from each of those islands, along with a crystal from the lost mermaid's home island. Then, they have to use their powers on each of the crystals and combine them on the lost mermaid's crystal. That supposedly is enough magic to transport a mermaid back to the present. But, I was told that it would only work if I could save Eva."

"So, we can't go back unless my friends (and Bella, of course) get seven crystals and do that little thing and we save Eva from dying, right?"

Melia gave a wry smile. "You've got it."

"But, how are we supposed to contact anyone to tell them what to do?"

"I have a way," a familiar voice said from behind the two girls. They jumped and turned around to find Ashley sitting on the bed.

"Ashley!" Emma cried with relief.

"Who are you?" Melia asked, a little afraid of the strange girl who had just appeared in her room.

"I'm Ashley Hamilton and I'm a friend of Emma and Bella's."

"Wait, are you one of those six mermaids that Emma talked about?"

Ashley smiled a little sadly. "I'm afraid not. I died last September of breast cancer at 68. I'm more like the present mermaids' guardian angel."

"She usually appears to help us with making decisions and if we need her to totally save our butts," Emma explained with a grin.

"So, you're dead," Melia said a little worriedly.

"Don't worry, I'm in heaven. I'm not here to wreak revenge on anyone or anything," Ashley reassured her. "I'm actually here to help you, Melia."

"How…how do you know my name?" Melia implored.

"She knows everything…just leave it at that," Emma replied. "How are you going to help us, Ashley?"

"I've come to assist the two of you set up contact with Bella, Cleo, Rikki, Natalie, and Andrea. They miss you both a lot and I figured you needed to tell them how to get you guys out of here."

"You bet!" Emma agreed.

"Okay, so I'm going to open up a portal so you can speak to them. Emma, do you want to go first?" Ashley asked Emma.

"Sure, unless Melia wants to."

"No, it's okay, Emma. You can talk first." Melia told the blond girl. Ashley soon opened up a strange glowing circle and the two girls found themselves hovering over Rikki, Andrea, Cleo, Bella, and Natalie in the moonpool! "That's so cool!" Melia cried. Em talked for a little bit until the entire moonpool went black.

"What happened?" Emma asked, frightened.

"Don't worry, the lights will come back in a minute," Ashley answered. "It's just a side effect of the comet that's coming. Remember when the water began to heat up before Mako's comet?"

"Yeah, I think Rikki told me about that," Emma said.

"Well, with this comet, hurricane-like storms will attack the three islands off and on until the full moon. Also, the sky will become pitch black from time to time."

"Okay, that's weird," Melia put in.

Right at that moment, the Pallawa Island moonpool lit up again. "Guys, can you hear me?" Emma implored to her friends.

"Where's Melia?" Bella yelled. "Is she okay?"

"I'm right here; I'm fine!" Melia said while trying to be seen by the other girls.

"We have to tell you guys something important, so shut up!" Emma shouted. Everyone shut up and looked expectantly at Em. Rikki rolled her eyes. "I saw that!" Emma told her.

"Just get on with it!" Rikki replied back.

"Okay! Anyway, we need you guys to save us."

"How?" Andrea asked skeptically.

"We need you to collect a crystal from five islands: Scattery Island in Ireland…"

"My island," Bella whispered.

"…some mermaid island in Spain, Ooha'oma Island in Hawaii…"

"Ooh, I want that one!" Rikki yelled. "It sounds like a beach vacation to me!"

"Fine, just let me talk," Em said exasperatingly. "…Serenity Island in France, and another mermaid island in Japan. Then, you'll bring the crystals back to Sirena and wait until _after_ you've defeated the comet. What you have to do is use one power on each crystal and combine your powers on my crystal necklace and Melia's. It should be enough magic to save us both."

"We'll do it!" Natalie yelled.

"Are you sure this'll work?" Rikki asked, not very convinced.

"It will work!" Melia cried. "Now, please! You have to hurry because you only have until the next full moon to save us. So, please, get to it!" Just then, Ashley's bubble popped, cutting off Emma and Melia's connection. The five other mermaids stared at one another, not sure what to think.

~*O*~

Pallawa Island

July 3, 11:12 am

The beach of Pallawa Island was covered with debris from around the isle. Cleo was busying herself by attempting to clean it up using her wind power. Rikki, Natalie, Andrea, and Bella were sitting in a circle by the remnants of their hut. "So…how are we supposed to travel around the world?" Natalie asked. "We don't even have a stupid boat!"

"Yeah we do," Cleo argued as she sat down in the circle. "The dinghy, remember?"

"Okay, so we can use the dinghy," Bella said. "Then what?"

"We probably should decide who's going where," Rikki replied. "I want Hawaii."

"Fine," Cleo agreed. "But you can't run around partying or tanning. We need that crystal ASAP, all right?"

Rikki nodded in agreement. "I think you should have that 'Serenity Island', Cleo," Andrea told her. "You took three years of French in high school. You could get around easier."

Cleo smiled. "I'll take that one, then. Bella, you're probably not going to like this, but you should go to Scattery Island."

"What?" Bella was surprised. "You guys, do you know how many painful memories I've experienced there? I haven't even been there since Melia's disappearance!"

"Which is all the reason why you should go," Nat said gently. "You could finally get some closure."

"Okay, I'll go," Bella answered, knowing she wouldn't win. "But, I'm not going to like it."

"I'll take Japan!" Andrea said eagerly. "I've always wanted to travel there, but our cruise ship never voyaged that far."

"Andrea, are you sure?" Natalie asked worriedly. "You don't even know Japanese!"

"Duh, that's what guidebooks are for!" Andrea said.

"All right, then I guess I'm stuck with Spain," Nat said a little glumly. "At least I can fake my way through Spanish!"

"Okay, let's get whatever stuff of ours is left and we'll meet at the dinghy in fifteen minutes!" Rikki ordered. She was glad that Ashley had transported the boat there from Sirena. Everyone hurried into the ruined hut and searched for belongings, looking forward to their adventure.

_I just hope that Dr. Denman isn't still looking for us, _Natalie thought while packing her bag.

_**Yes! It's done! And, I'm finally in summer break, so I can work on this story! :) I'm planning on about 17-18 chapters, so we have 7 or 8 left until the end! :/ But, don't be sad! There will still be 2 or 3 stories left to go, depending on if I want to pursue other fanfiction ideas. (I have a really good Chuck story, for instance.) **_

_**Note to my readers from Hawaii, France, Japan, Spain, and Ireland: I will be researching my butt off to try to portray your countries accurately! I don't want to offend anyone if I get something wrong, so I wanted to say something now. Anyway, enjoy your summer (if you're out) and keep on reviewing so I'll keep writing! **_


	14. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Somewhere in the Pacific

July 3, 5:47 pm

"I spy something…blue," Andrea said.

"The ocean," Natalie guessed.

"Nope," Andrea said smugly.

"My shirt?"

"No, you idiot."

"Oh my gosh! It's the sky, you blond!" Rikki yelled, lifting up her sunglasses and sitting up from the bottom of the dinghy. Natalie and Andrea stared at her before going back to their game.

"I spy something…red," Natalie said.

"Guys, not now!" Bella shouted from where she was rowing. She was so annoyed at Natalie and Andrea at the moment. It was hard enough squeezing five teenage girls into a dinghy, but throwing "I Spy" into it was too much. They had been traveling since noon, hoping to find another island that hopefully had an airport. So far, they hadn't had much luck.

"Don't you think we should've just asked Ashley to transport us somewhere?" Cleo asked. She was rowing, too.

"We don't want to depend on Ashley for everything," Rikki explained. "We're still independent."

"Still…" Cleo trailed off. "It would've been a lot easier."

"I think that I should be able to go to Japan by myself," Andrea put in. "I am eleven, after all."

"Just because you are one year older doesn't mean you can travel by yourself," Natalie said for the millionth time. "You're still going to get the crystal on your own; Rikki's just going to be waiting in the water outside."

"I don't need a babysitter! I can handle this myself!"

"I'm not saying that you need a babysitter. I just don't want you to be alone in case anything happens. You're getting a trip to both Japan _and _Hawaii, so I think you should be grateful."

"Shut up!" Andrea yelled. "You're not my mother!"

Natalie gave Andrea a death glare and Rikki, Bella, and Cleo were worried that they might have to hold the two sisters back so they wouldn't kill each other. "I know I'm not your mother, but I am your guardian while Alex is away." Nat was trying to keep her cool. "I am just trying to keep you safe."

"Just shut it! Both of you!" Rikki shrieked. "Natalie, you are acting like you are thirty or something! Andrea's right, you're not her mother. Heck, you're not even her real sister!" Natalie's face went white at the mention that she and Andrea weren't really related.

"Thank you," Andrea said with a smirk.

"And Andrea, you are acting like a spoiled little brat, which is _so _unlike you!" Rikki continued. "You are eleven darn years old! You can not travel around a foreign country by yourself yet!" The younger girl's cheeks went red and she looked down at the bottom of the dinghy. "Now, I have put most of my 'rough' tendencies behind me, but if you don't shut your mouths and sit quietly, I swear I will toss both of you overboard and leave you for the sharks because _I have had it!"_ Rikki then lay back at the bottom of the boat like nothing had happened.

Everyone sat with their mouths hanging open. "Sorry, Nat," Andrea muttered.

"I'm…I'm sorry, too, Andrea," Natalie stuttered, still frightened from Rikki's tongue-lashing.

"It's the heat; it's getting to us," Cleo said. "I knew we should've called Ashley." She gave Rikki a "look".

"Cleo, don't start with me," Rikki warned. "I will cut you."

"Okay, guys, just settle down," Bella said nervously, not wanting to be caught in the middle of a brawl.

"Look at your smart idea!" Cleo yelled. "Everyone's fighting, we're probably going to die of heat stroke, and we're nowhere from land!"

"I swear, Cleo, I can severely injure you if I wanted to."

_Ashley, we need you! _Bella cried.

"You rang?" a lilting voice said softly. Everyone froze just before Rikki grabbed Cleo by her t-shirt collar. Ashley, all decked out in her white sundress, sat patiently in the back of the dinghy, braiding a small braid in her brunette hair.

"Thank God you're here, Ashley," Bella replied. "Rikki and Cleo were about to…"

"…kill each other, I know," Ashley said with a smile. "I saw the whole thing."

"Actually, it would've been me killing Cleo," Rikki interrupted. "She can't throw a punch to save her life."

"Hey!" Cleo exclaimed.

"Well, I'm guessing that you need to get a ride to land, right?" Ashley asked.

"Exactly," Natalie agreed. "Rikki thought this would be an easier way to land, but so far it hasn't worked well."

"I agree," Bella put in. "We really need to get to California or somewhere with an airport so we can get to our countries/states."

"I think it would be easiest to transport you to Los Angeles, even though your faces have been broadcast all over the news. It's a good midpoint, and you can fly to any place from there," Ashley mused. "Okay girls, hang on tight!"

A strange blue glow took over the dinghy, lifting the five girls out of their seats. They gasped as a portal grew out of the light. Rikki tentatively approached the portal, and was instantly sucked inside. Frightened, Cleo and Natalie tried to fight the force coming out of the passage, but were taken as well, screaming and hugging each other as they zipped eastward. Andrea bravely dove inside, whooping with delight. Finally, Bella was left floating outside the entrance to civilization.

"Goodbye, Ashley," she called while waving to her friend.

The young girl looked up at Bella and waved also. "Good luck, Bella."

Bella gave a final wave and took a deep breath before stepping inside the portal. She was instantly surrounded by blue sparkles that swirled around her, pulling her down a corridor heading east. She cried out involuntarily as she was transported away from the dinghy. Ashley was left sitting in the lifeboat, still braiding her hair.

"Good luck, girls," she said quietly. "You're going to need it."

~*O*~

_Scattery Island, Ireland_

_July 8, 1740_

Sunlight shone through the loft window onto Emma's sleeping face. She squinted from the bright light and opened her eyes, a little confused on where she was. _Oh wait, I'm in Ireland during the 1740's. _ She sat up and got out of bed, her white shift _**(18**__**th**__** century undergarment; kind of like a nightgown) **_swirling around her. Melia was still asleep in her bed, her brown hair escaping from her nightcap and her arm flung across her face. Emma walked over and shook her. "Melia, wake up."

"Five more minutes," Melia moaned. Emma decided to be nice and went to get dressed. Eva had kindly left a lavender gown and white lace cap in the cupboard for her. Frowning a little, Em started to attempt dressing herself like an 18th century girl. Thankfully, Emma had loved reading about colonial times as a young girl.

_Okay, so the shift is first, _she thought. _Then stockings and garters…_ She pulled on the woolen stockings and tied the ribbon garters at the top so the stockings wouldn't fall down. _Um, what's next? _She wasn't sure if she was supposed to put on her shoes or the corset. _I guess shoes, because I can't put on that corset by myself. _After slipping on her black buckle shoes, Emma went to wake Melia.

"Melia, get up. I need you to help me." Melia opened a bleary eye and looked at her.

"You want me to help with that blasted corset, right?" she asked.

"Yes, so get your butt out of bed and help me. I'll help you next." The younger girl groaned and practically fell onto the floor. "Shh!" Emma hissed. "Do you want to wake up the whole inn?"

Melia gave her a death glare. "Do you want to spend the whole day wearing only your shift?"

"No," Emma replied.

"Then let me do my thing, and you can do yours." Melia picked up the whalebone corset distastefully and put it around Emma's chest. "Hold onto the bedpost."

"What?" Emma asked.

"Just trust me." Em complied and Melia began lacing up the corset. Emma could feel her air being constricted with each pull. Then, Melia reached the top and began tugging harder. Emma gasped and dark spots appeared on the edges of her vision.

"Too tight!" she cried. Melia gave her a sympathetic look.

"Sorry, but it has to be this tight. Just take shallow breaths or you'll end up like Elizabeth in _Pirates of the Caribbean."_ _**(I'm referring to Curse of the Black Pearl, in case you're wondering. If you've never seen it, the whole movie is on YouTube.)**_

"Oh, gosh," Emma moaned. Melia finished pulling and tugging, leaving Emma clinging to the bedpost for support, trying to breathe.

"Come on, Emma, you need to help me, too." Melia began pulling on her clothing. Emma finally went back to the cupboard and got a petticoat _**(a skirt underneath the dress) **_and a pocket. _**(an actual pocket you tied around your waist while the dress had little slits in it to reach the pocket) **_After Em put on those articles of clothing, it was time to help Melia put on her corset.

Melia held onto the bedpost and Emma tried to imitate her actions. Once she got to the top, she took the two laces and yanked as hard as she could. Melia cried out and almost fell. "Not that hard, you idiot!" she gasped. Emma loosened the ties and the two girls went to finish getting dressed.

Emma slid the lavender gown over her head and brushed out her long golden hair, braiding it into a long braid and placing it inside her cap. Melia was wearing a burgundy gown that had a white floral pattern on it. She put her brown hair into a bun and put her cream linen cap with a cinnamon colored ribbon on it over the bun. The two girls then climbed down the ladder and down the stairs to the dining room. Eva was setting the table. She jumped when she saw the two girls.

"Oh, you frightened me!" she cried.

"Sorry," Emma apologized.

"It's all right. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes." Eva looked over Emma's dress. "It looks like my dress fits."

"Yes, it does. Thank you so much for it."

"You're welcome, Miss Emma. Melia, how are you this morning?" She went and hugged the brunette girl.

"I'm fine, Eva. How are you?"

"I'm just wonderful. I'm sorry that we put Miss Emma with you, but we didn't have any more spare rooms."

"It's fine, Eva, really. Emma and I get along great."

Just then, Mara walked into the room carrying a plate of bacon. "Eva, will you go tell the other guests that breakfast is ready?" she asked.

"Of course, Mother." Eva walked into the parlor where the rest of the guests were waiting. "Breakfast is served!" she said cheerily.

Within moments, Emma found herself seated between Melia and a middle-aged woman named Grace Potter. Grace liked to chat, and kept up a steady stream of chatter during the whole meal. Emma hardly had time to eat between all the questions. As soon as breakfast was over and everyone was getting up from the table, Melia caught Emma by the arm.

"I need to show you something," she whispered. Em found herself being taken outside of the inn and towards a dark forest.

"Where are we going?" Emma implored.

"Shh! I'll tell you in a bit." Melia looked over her shoulder before hurrying into the woods, pulling Emma after her. The two of them ran through the forest before coming to a clearing that led to the ocean. Melia led Emma down the rocky beach until they came to a hole in it.

"The moonpool?" Emma asked.

"Yes," Melia responded. "Now get in." Emma slid down the tunnel and Melia followed. Suddenly, Em was sitting very unladylike at the bottom of the hole, Melia right beside her.

"Why are we here?" Em said impatiently.

"I wanted to talk to you, and the inn isn't very private," Melia explained. "Follow me." She got up and walked down a passageway. Emma followed reluctantly and soon was in a cavern with a crystal blue pool in the center of it. Melia smiled at her and dove in, coming up in her orange tail and bikini top. "Come on, Em!"

Emma nervously looked around for anybody, which was kind of stupid to do, and jumped in. For a few seconds, her heavy clothes weighed her down, scaring her. Then, her legs combined into her tail and Emma gasped as she surfaced. Melia stared at her strangely. "What do you need to talk about?" Emma asked while leaning against the edge of the pool.

"Well, we need to figure out how to tell Eva you're a mermaid without revealing that you're from the future. Then, we need to make a battle plan about the tower of light."

"What if I 'accidentally' spill water on myself in front of her?"

"No, too obvious. It needs to be more subtle."

"Fall into the ocean near her?"

"Maybe, but still conspicuous."

"I have no idea, then."

All of a sudden, Melia and Emma heard rocks falling down the tunnel and Melia stuck a hand over Emma's mouth. "Don't speak, even though I know that's very hard for you," she ordered. Em was too frightened to move, let alone speak or scream.

"Melia, are you here?" Emma heard Eva call. _Oh, crap, oh crap, oh crap!_ Melia shoved Emma underwater, still having a hand clapped over her mouth.

"I'm here, Eva!" Eva walked into the moonpool and Emma slowly swam towards the underwater exit, hoping to escape without Eva seeing her.

"Why did you leave so quickly?"

"I…just wanted to take an early morning swim," Melia lied. She saw Emma trying to leave and hit her with her fin as if to say: _Don't!_

"Well, my mother was wondering where you and Miss Emma went, so I came to look for you. Where is Miss Emma?"

"I think she went for a walk by the cliffs."

"By the cliffs? You don't think she'll do anything absurd, do you?"

"I don't believe so. She doesn't seem melancholy."

Emma meanwhile was lying on the sandy, shadowy bottom of the pool, trying to not attract attention to herself. _Come on Eva, leave before I drown!_

"I better go search for Miss Emma," Eva was saying. "Melia, do you want to join me?"

"Sure, just let me get dry first." Melia dragged herself out of the pool and dried her tail off using her power. Eva had left a rope on the tunnel, so the two girls simply climbed out of the cavern. Emma surfaced as soon as they were gone.

"Thank God," she whispered while trying to catch her breath. Realizing that she should leave, she got out of the water and slowly waited for her tail to air-dry. Once she was back in her colonial dress, she shimmied up the rope and hurried towards the cliffs.

Eva and Melia were walking on the other end of the cliffs, so Emma stood on the opposite side. She allowed herself to drift into deep thought, thinking about her friends. _I bet that they're starting to search for the crystals right now. I just hope that they can find them in time! _

Just then, she heard Eva call her name. Startled out of her thoughts, Emma took a step backwards and slipped on the loose rock on the edge of the cliffs. A scream was torn from her lips as she fell off towards the ocean. She hit the water with a terrifying splash, scraping her head on a rock. She slipped under the water, unconscious.

"Emma!" Eva and Melia both screamed. The two girls ran to where they had last seen the blond girl, only to find a bubble ring in the water where she had landed.

"I'm going after her," Eva said quietly, taking off her shoes and stockings.

"Eva! Your secret!" Melia whispered, trying to act surprised. "Let me go."

"No, I'm a better diver than you anyway. Go get my mother, all right? And the doctor!" Eva then dove off the cliff, making a perfect dive into the water.

"Crap," Melia muttered before running towards the inn. "Mara!" she yelled as she ran. _Well, now Eva will know that Emma's a mermaid._

Eva swam underneath the surface, searching frantically for Emma's lavender dress and blond hair. Then, she caught a glimpse of turquoise. Turning towards it, she covered her mouth in shock. There was Emma, floating towards the bottom of the bay with a turquoise mermaid tail! _I still can't let her drown, _Eva thought. She grabbed Emma's wrist and dragged her to the surface.

Within a few moments, Eva had gotten Emma on the beach and was examining a bloody goose egg on her head. Melia came running to them. "Your mother's running to get the doctor," she said. "So, I don't have much time to…oh my gosh, Emma's a mermaid, too?" Melia asked with mock surprise.

Eva nodded. "I wonder how she became one." Melia dried them both off right before Mara and the doctor came hurrying to the three girls.

"What happened?" Mara implored worriedly as the doctor looked Emma over.

"Miss Emma fainted on the beach and hit her head," Eva explained. "I think Melia made her corset too tight."

"She'll be fine," the doctor reassured them. "I'll carry her to the inn and then just let her rest for the remainder of the day. She'll probably be very sore when she wakes up, so give her some chamomile tea and clean the wound with witch hazel. I will check on her tomorrow." He then picked up Emma and carried her up the beach, Eva, Melia, and Mara following them.

They entered the inn to the worried stares of the other guests. Eva insisted that Emma be put in her room so she wouldn't have to climb up and down the ladder. Emma was placed in Eva's bed and Melia and Eva stayed with her.

_When you wake up, Emma Gilbert, I want to know who you are and what you're really doing here, _Eva thought as she sat by Emma's bed.

~*O*~

Los Angeles International Airport

Los Angeles, California

July 6, 7:28 am

Cleo, Andrea, Rikki, Bella, and Natalie stood in front of one of the biggest airports in the United States in awe. They had spent the previous night in a hotel, not wanting to take a red-eye flight since they were exhausted. Cleo had bought their tickets last night using a debit card that had magically appeared in Bella's pocket. Natalie, Bella, and Cleo were flying to New York first before splitting up in different flights while Rikki and Andrea had a straight flight to Hawaii.

"Thank God we're finally here!" Rikki yelled.

"I know!" Natalie agreed.

"Well, what are we standing here for?" Andrea asked. "Let's go in!" The five girls walked into the airport, carrying suitcases full of newly bought clothing. Security was a breeze, and soon the friends were standing in the middle of the terminal, not sure how to say goodbye.

"Um, good luck, guys," Cleo said awkwardly.

"You all remember the plan, right?" Bella asked nervously. "We can't screw this one up. Emma and Melia's lives are on the line."

"Bella, chill," Rikki said. "We'll do fine. We know exactly what we're doing."

"_Flight 591 to Honolulu is now boarding," _a voice on the intercom cut in.

"That's us," Andrea said with a sigh. She and Rikki picked up their carry on bags and went to walk away. At the last minute, Andrea ran back to give Natalie a hug, dropping her bag in the process. "I'll miss you, Nat!" she cried.

"I'll miss you, too, sis," Nat managed to say, kind of shocked that Andrea was showing that much emotion.

"Andrea, the plane is boarding," Rikki said impatiently. "We need to go before it takes off without us!" Andrea let go of Natalie and followed Rikki, giving a final wave to their friends before boarding their plane. Within twenty minutes, Cleo, Bella, and Natalie were called onto their flight and took off for New York. By the next morning, everyone was in their separate countries, scared about completing their mission.

~*O*~

Honolulu, Hawaii

July 6, 11:12 am

Rikki and Andrea walked out of the Hawaiian airport, the sudden humidity blending with the cool air conditioning fogging their sunglasses. "Welcome to Hawaii," a hula dancer outside the airport said while giving each girl a flower lei.

"Thank you," Andrea replied politely even though she was allergic to pollen and already felt like sneezing.

"Great, now everybody will know that we're tourists," Rikki muttered under her breath.

"Rikki!" Andrea hissed through gritted teeth. "Be polite!"

The older girl rolled her eyes before giving the native dancer a fake friendly smile. "Thanks."

Andrea decided to accept the thank you and headed towards the car rental area. "Where to?" she implored.

"I've already rented one," Rikki explained. She walked up to the counter and spoke to the employee. Within five minutes, she came back jingling a set of car keys. "It's a lime green Ford Fiesta."

Andrea looked around before spotting the brightly colored car. "Found it!" she called. Rikki unlocked it and the friends hopped in.

"Set the GPS for a beach a few miles outside Honolulu," Rikki ordered.

"How about I just set it for Ooha'oma Island?" Andrea suggested.

"Fine with me." With that, the duo headed out of town before landing on a small beach. "Where's the island?" Rikki asked as she got out of the car.

"In the water, where do you think it would be?" Andrea groaned. She hefted a pack that held all her supplies she would need. They were planning on camping out on the island that night so they didn't have to swim back to shore in the pitch black.

Rikki grabbed her pack out of the backseat of the car and headed towards the water. The girls looked at each other with a silent nod before diving into the ocean. Their packs and clothes dissolved away, replaced with their tails and bikini tops. As they swam, Andrea couldn't help but feel like something bad was going to happen to them. _No way, _she thought.

Soon, Rikki and Andrea were dragging themselves onto the beach. "We'll set up camp in that forest over there," Rikki said while pointing to a wild jungle at the edge of the beach. After they were both dry by Rikki's power, they lugged their bags up to the forest. Andrea began setting up the tent as Rikki peered into the dense woods.

"Don't freak out. There's no one here," Andrea said reassuringly.

"I know, I just thought I heard something," Rikki replied.

"Just don't worry about it. Come help me set up the tent, and then we'll try to find the moonpool." Rikki obeyed and the girls finished setting up their tent. Then, leaving their gear behind, they dove into the ocean.

After their tails appeared, Rikki and Andrea swam around the perimeter of the mysterious island, searching for an underwater entrance to the moonpool. They finally were able to find an opening not unlike the Mako Island moonpool. Rikki swam in first and gave a final glance to Andrea. _Just stay out here. I'll be fine._

_Okay, just be careful! _Andrea yelled back.

Rikki left Andrea behind and flicked her reddish-orange tail, propelling herself up the tunnel. She surfaced in the strange moonpool in awe. It looked identical to the Mako Island moonpool. _Wow, _she thought. She pulled herself out of the water and dried her tail off. All of a sudden, she heard rocks falling from above. Rikki froze in fear, too scared to even jump into the water in front of her.

_Rikki, what are you doing? Move! _Andrea shrieked.

Then, a young brunette girl walked into the cavern and stared at Rikki. "Who are you?" she ordered.

"I should be asking you the same question," Rikki replied.

"Well, I'll be your worst nightmare if you don't tell me who you are," the girl said while crossing her arms.

"I'm Rikki."

"Well, 'Rikki', get the heck out of this cave!" _**(Aly's Note: I know that Marril96's characters swear, but I don't, so I'm sorry. :/)**_

"Who's going to make me, you?" Rikki held her hand at ready by her side.

"My name is May, and I will make you!" May raised a hand and a water ball went flying at Rikki, who managed to boil it before it hit her.

"Nice try," Rikki said slyly.

"What do you want?" May asked angrily.

"Just chill. I need a crystal from your moonpool, okay? I only need one."

May glared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"A crystal. You know, from the cave walls? Blue stone, teardrop shaped, magnetic?" The other girl stared at Rikki blankly and Rikki could hear random thoughts racing through her head.

One stood out the most. _I have no idea what that crystal is, but I can't let her get it. _May smiled sweetly at Rikki. "Well, if you want that crystal so badly, then you'll have to go through me!" She started to raise a water snake out of the clear blue pool. "And, so you won't escape…" May created a water wall blocking both cave exits.

_Crap…_Rikki thought. _Andrea, help!_

_On my way! _Andrea swam up the underwater entrance to find a massive water wall in her way. _Dear Lord, why now?_ She threw her hand up, but the wall was too strong for her power. _What the…_

Meanwhile, Rikki was dodging May's enormous snake that was trying to grab her. She whipped around and managed to boil its head off. May groaned. "Of all the times I decided to not bring Des along."

"May, can we please talk?" Rikki yelled.

"No way!" May threw another water ball at her that Rikki managed to avoid.

_Andrea, I need you! _Rikki said impatiently.

The blond girl was attempting to focus her power on the weakest point in the wall. _I can't get in; what am I supposed to do?_

_Project your power! _Rikki screamed.

Andrea took a deep breath and got herself ready. Inside, May grew closer to Rikki. "Give up?" she asked.

"Never," Rikki answered firmly. "I'll never give up until my friend is safe."

"Your friend?" May's face seemed to get softer.

"Yeah. My friend Emma is in trouble and the only way I can help her is by getting a crystal from your moonpool. Can you please give me one?"

"Well…" Just then, Andrea exploded a portion of the pool, almost getting May wet. She turned towards Rikki, her brown eyes blazing in anger and the gold starfish charm on her necklace swinging madly. "What was that?"

"That was _your _worst nightmare," Rikki replied with a smirk. "Can't get wet, can you?"

"Yeah, but you can't either!" May tried to tackle her into the pool.

_Did I get her? _Andrea asked eagerly.

_No, you just made her madder! _Rikki yelled back while jumping out of the way of another water attack. More liquid explosions erupted in the churning moonpool from Andrea while a furious May threw various water balls and snakes at Rikki, who switched between dodging and boiling the assaults.

Finally, Andrea focused all her power within her and smiled before unleashing a huge explosion that shattered both of May's walls. Andrea surfaced in the pool. "Say hello to my little friend!" Andrea shouted as she prepared to raise her hand. Thinking quickly, May wrapped a water tentacle around Andrea's body, forcing her arms against her sides.

Rikki gasped. "Let her go!"

May laughed. "And let her attack me even more? No way in heck."

"Rikki, it's okay. This is actually quite comfortable," Andrea joked.

"Shut up, brat," May said as she tightened the tentacle, making Andrea's face grow pale. "Unless you want a gag, too."

"May, I only want one dang crystal. There are thousands in these walls. You won't miss one."

"Get the heck away from me," May warned. "You're lucky that your little friend here is still alive. Is this 'Emma'?"

"No, I'm Andrea, you jerk," Andrea replied as she glared at the brunette. "And you're lucky that I haven't blown your head off."

"Okay, if that's how it's going to be," May answered as she lifted her hand. Rikki became furious and sent a bolt of lightning down that barely missed May's arm. The girl gasped.

"Dang it, I missed," Rikki muttered.

"It doesn't matter!" Andrea shrieked. "Just get the crystal!"

May gave Rikki a smirk. "It seems that I hold all the cards now."

"Fat chance." With that, Rikki punched May right in the face, knocking the teenage girl out cold. The tentacle unwrapped Andrea and she stared in wonder at Rikki.

"You knocked her out with one punch!" she cried.

"Yeah, yeah, no big deal." Rikki pulled Andrea out of the pool and ended up having to dry both of them off since Andrea's hand was wet. Taking off her blue crystal necklace, Rikki began waving it by the cavern walls. Within five minutes, the crystal swung towards a section of stone. "There it is," Rikki breathed. She heated the stone up and soon a cherry red crystal appeared.

"Oh my gosh…" Andrea whispered as Rikki gently put the crystal in a black bag. "It's beautiful."

_One down, four to go…_Rikki thought to the others.

~*O*~

Somewhere over the Midwest

Flight WN 1945 to NYC

July 6, 12:13 pm

"I hate economy," Natalie stated from her window seat in the Boeing 737.

"At least you can look out the window," Bella said. She was squished between Cleo and Nat. The three girls were all flying to New York City before heading their separate ways.

"What do you think will happen to us?" Cleo asked.

"What do you mean?" Natalie replied. "If you're talking about Denman, then we're doomed."

"No, I mean when we find the crystals. Rikki and Andrea already encountered a mermaid when they were getting theirs. Does that mean that we will, too?"

"Not necessarily," Bella soothed. "We should just look on the bright side of things for now."

"Besides, not all mermaids are evil," Nat put in. "That one was just protective of her territory. Andrea and Rikki were technically trespassing."

"Oh thanks for the vote of confidence, Nat," Cleo said. "Really comforting."

"You'll be fine," Natalie responded. "I'm just annoyed that I have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to go to Barcelona while you guys leave this evening."

"You'll live," Bella said, a little annoyed. Just then, she caught the headline of a newspaper of a fellow passenger across the aisle. _Search for Missing Teenagers Called Off, _she read to herself. "Excuse me, sir," she asked the man. "Can I borrow your paper?"

"Of course." The man passed over his paper to Cleo, who gave it to Bella.

"What does it say?" Natalie asked eagerly.

"_The search for six missing teenage girls was called off today after almost one month of searching. Emma Gilbert, 19, Rachelle 'Rikki' Chadwick, 19, Cleo Setori, 19, Isabella 'Bella' Hartley, 19, Natalie 'Nat' DeGrand, 18, and Andrea Wilkens, 11, were reported missing by their families on the morning of June 4__th__ on the Gold Coast in Australia. _

_They were last seen in the Gold Coast Harbor after the fiery explosion of the luxury yacht _Denman's Pride_, fleeing the scene in a speedboat. Initial reports thought the girls had set the explosion themselves, but there were no survivors on the yacht. As of now, the teenagers are innocent._

_Even though their faces have been broadcast on every television set and newspaper, there have been no sign of the six girls. Last summer, all of the girls shipwrecked on a deserted island and were missing for about three months. They were getting together to celebrate the one year anniversary of the shipwreck, according to a friend, Lewis McCartney. He says that, 'The girls always have a knack for disappearing. They'll turn up when you least expect it.'_

_The Coast Guard called off the official searching of the girls yesterday and they are now officially presumed dead. A prayer vigil is being held in San Francisco and the Gold Coast today in hope that the six friends will finally return home. Their families still wish for people to search for their daughters, sisters, and girlfriends, and anyone is welcome to do so."_

"Well, that was interesting," Cleo said after Bella finished reading.

"Apparently no one is looking for us," Bella mused.

"Except for Denman, of course," Natalie pointed out.

"Who cares about her?" Cleo replied. "Right now we have to worry about Emma, and Emma only. She's counting on us."

"I know, I know," Nat said tiredly. "Wake me when we get there." She turned away and fell asleep. Bella shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe we should get some rest, too," she suggested.

"Sure," Cleo agreed. She leaned back and closed her eyes, picturing Lewis's face. _I love you, Lewis, _she thought, blowing him a mental kiss. _I hope to see you again soon._ As she drifted off to sleep, she imagined herself standing on a beach. But, standing beside her was a blurry figure. A figure with long, raven-black hair…

_**End of Chapter 12! First off, big thanks to Marril96 for letting me borrow May and Ooha'oma Island! :) I know that it wasn't perfect, but I liked it. Second of all, I have posted pictures of Melia, Eva, and Sirena Island on my profile! Go check them out, please! Thirdly, I have a new poll on my profile with this question: Should Melia rejoin the girls? (By that, I mean sometime in the series, it might not be in this story.) So, go vote! :D**_

_**So…what will happen in (unlucky, if you're superstitious) Chapter 13? Who is the figure in Cleo's dream? Will the girls be able to get all the crystals? How will Eva respond to the fact that Emma's a mermaid? Can Emma and Melia save Eva's life and Ireland? Will I ever stop asking so many questions? I don't know…**_

_**Well, I better stop babbling and shut up since I'm rambling again. (For gosh sakes, Aly, shut your mouth.) Anyway, keep on reviewing, guys! I've gotten 100 on this one, thanks to Mermaidmagicpower! (Thanks a lot!) I really want to get at least 150 total by the time this story's over. So, keep on reviewing so I'll keep writing! Hasta luego! (See you later!)**_


	15. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Dublin, Ireland

July 7, 9:03 am

Bella quietly picked up her suitcase from the baggage claim and started rolling it towards the exit of the airport. _Here we go, _she thought. She was really nervous to revisit the place that had transformed her into a mermaid. _The place where Melia was taken away for ten years._

She got in her rental car and began driving east towards Limerick, tapping the steering wheel impatiently. Bella was already running late and it was a three hour drive to Kilrush, where she had to take a ferry to Scattery Island, the place that she had lived peacefully for a year and a half. Well, peacefully until Melia started getting sick. Then, her life became a living nightmare.

_Flashback_

_Spring 2002_

_Ten year old Bella sat by her best friend's bedside, watching Melia sleep fitfully. "Melia…" Bella choked, her tears causing a huge lump in her throat. Melia barely opened her eyes and gave her a small smile._

"_It's okay, Bell. Don't cry." She weakly raised her hand and brushed a few of Bella's tears away._

"_I don't want to lose you!" Bella sobbed. "You're my best friend!"_

"_Bella, you won't. I'll fight this til the day I die, okay?"_

_Just then, Bethany Clark, Melia's mother, walked into the cold, unloving hospital room, clutching a cup of tea. "Bella, your mother's waiting downstairs," she whispered to the little blond girl. _

"_Can I please stay with Melia?" Bella begged. "What if something happens and I'm not here?"_

_Bethany smiled a bit. She loved Bella like her own daughter, but saw the traces of exhaustion and stress across the girl's small face. "I would let you, but you already spent the night last night and have been here all day. I promise you can come back tomorrow, all right?"_

_Tears were streaming down Bella's face, but she slowly nodded and headed for the elevator. Only she knew why Melia was so sick. It had happened a few weeks ago when Melia started having unexplained fevers that only Bella could cool down. Then, she became weak and fainted at school one day. Soon, she could hardly walk. Bethany had taken her to the hospital last week. Bella had been alternately sleeping in Melia's room or visiting whenever possible. Both Bethany and her own mother were concerned that she was spending too much time with Melia, but said nothing to the heartbroken girl._

I have to find out what's making Melia sick, _Bella thought as she walked towards her mother's car. _I have to save her.

_End of Flashback_

In the car, Bella began crying. She wiped her eyes and concentrated on driving. She couldn't let her emotions get ahold of her and make her wreck the car or something. _I'm not going to let Melia disappear again, _she thought firmly. _Not again._ Bella turned her focus onto the road and drove ten kilometers over the speed limit all the way there.

As soon as she arrived in Kilrush, Bella practically sprinted to the ferry dock. She got onto the red ferry boat and bounced around impatiently. _Come on, you stupid thing, go faster! I could've swam here and back by now! _She paced around the dock, angry that she had been so stupid to not swim to the island on her own.

Fifteen minutes later, Bella forced herself to walk down the gangplank normally and through the main street of the ruined village. Scattery Island had been uninhabited since 1978, and Bella and Melia's families attempted to start another town. She looked northward and saw the abandoned hotel her mother had spent so much time on. _It was my fault we had to leave. If I hadn't been blamed for Melia's "drowning", Mother and I could have stayed here for a long time. _

Her father had been in Greece at the time, managing another hotel while Isabel Hartley and her daughter, Bella, devoted their time to making Scattery Island a loving place for families to visit. Bella quietly walked down the street overgrown with weeds, remembering when the island was such a happy place.

"Isabella?" she heard a voice call. "Isabella Hartley?" Bella gasped and turned around to see a blond woman running towards her.

"Theresa O'Malley?" Bella asked. Resa O'Malley had been an acquaintance of her mother and Melia's mother, Bethany. They hadn't been really close friends since Resa had been kind of the town gossip.

"What are you doing here?" Resa asked cheerily.

Bella faked a laugh. "Oh, you know, just revisiting some old memories."

"Like Amelia Clark's drowning?"

The color drained out of Bella's face and she struggled to keep from slapping Theresa. "Why are you bringing that up?"

"It's been almost ten years since it happened. Surely that's why you've come to visit after so long."

"Actually, it isn't."

"Well then, why have you come?"

Rage pulsed through Bella's veins. "It's none of your business, Mrs. O'Malley."

"I know it's because of that poor little girl's death. I remember the two of you used to run around the sea cliffs when you were children. And you claimed that Amelia fainted into the water that day and you couldn't find her. Not even the strongest divers were able to find that child's body." Theresa looked coolly at Bella. "Bella, did you drown Amelia Clark?"

Bella was horrified. "No, I didn't. Mrs. O'Malley, please leave me alone. I want to be by myself for a while." She was trying to keep her "Rikki" emotions in hiding.

"But, where are you going?" Theresa was attempting to follow her.

"Theresa, _leave me alone!"_ Bella glared at the woman before fleeing east towards the forest that would lead her to the ocean.

"Bella, wait!" Theresa called faintly.

Knowing that she didn't have much time, Bella found the secret entrance to the moonpool (it had been covered by a large stone), pushed the rock off, and dove head first inside, replacing the rock when she got in. Theresa ran right by it, still yelling Bella's name. _Nosy busybody, _she thought.

Bella then turned around towards the magic cave and took a deep breath. _It all started here. _She walked down the tunnel towards the moonpool. She gasped when she entered it.

It was still as beautiful as it had been ten years ago. But, Bella could still feel the sadness that clung to the walls of the cave. _Melia almost died here. She almost died._

"_Melia!" _Bella heard someone scream. Turning around, she saw a younger black and white version of herself diving into the moonpool after Amelia Clark. _No, no, not again!_

"_Melia, where are you?" _the young Bella sobbed. _"Please, please don't leave me!"_

_Make it stop! _Bella cried. _Please, make it stop!_

"That's enough!" a voice yelled. The younger Bella vanished. Bella looked up to see Melia walking towards her.

"Melia?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, it's me. Come here to rescue me?" Melia replied.

"Just to get a crystal."

"That's what I meant!" Melia said with a grin.

"Why are you here?" Bella implored.

The brunette girl bit her lip. "I've come to help you get closure, Bella."

"What? Why do I need closure?" Bella backed away from her friend. "Please, Melia, don't make me go back there again!"

Melia came and took Bella's hand, tears brimming in her crystal blue eyes. "I don't want too, either, but it will help you stay focused without thinking about the past."

Bella gave a watery smile. "Okay."

"Don't worry. I'll be with you every step of the way." Melia held up her hand and a whirlpool formed in the moonpool. Bella gasped as Melia dragged her towards it.

"Oh no, Melia, not in there."

"Shut up and get in."

The two girls dove into the pool, the whirlpool dragging them almost ten years back in time. They surfaced in a black and white version of the Scattery Island moonpool. The younger Bella and (pretty much the present) Melia were swimming happily in the magical pool.

"_You brought me on this day?" _Bella asked Melia. Melia shrugged her shoulders.

Just then, the younger Melia started to breathe more heavily. Little Bella turned around, concern on her face. "Melia, are you okay?"

"I don't know." The water began to boil around Melia, even though she wasn't making any hand motions. She cried out as her pale skin began to turn red. Little Bella swam over to her friend and cooled the water around her. Using all her strength, the younger Bella pushed the little Melia out of the pool. Then, she pulled herself out of the water.

"Melia, please wake up! Come on, wake up!" she cried while shaking her friend.

The present Bella knew this day well. It was the day that Melia had first become sick. Then, another whirlpool appeared and Bella and Melia were in a bedroom. Looking around, Bella realized what day this was._ No, _she thought.

Little Bella came running in, collapsing on her bed with sobs. Isabel Hartley came to the door. "Bella honey, it's time for dinner."

"Mummy, I'm not hungry."

Isabel sat down on the bed next to her heartbroken daughter. "I know that you're really upset that Melia's not going to live much longer, but at least she'll be in heaven with the angels. She won't be in anymore pain or suffering. Won't that be better for her?"

"But, I won't get to see her again!"

"You'll see her in heaven someday, Bella. I promise you that." With that being said, Isabel walked towards the door. "I'll leave some leftovers in the refrigerator in case you get hungry later. I have a business meeting I have to go to about the hotel, okay? Daddy promised to call later."

"Okay, Mummy," Bella replied sadly. Not even the prospect of a call from her beloved father could cheer her up. As soon as her mother had left, Bella went to the family computer, wanting to research something. Looking at the keyboard, she typed: "mermaid legends".

After fifteen minutes, all Bella had found were the usual legends about mermaids pulling sailors to their doom or the sad version of the Little Mermaid. Angry that there was nothing she could use to help her dying friend, Bella put on her shoes and ran outside, running past the workers putting finishing touches on little shops that would hold items and goods for future tourists. A few of the workers called out to her in greeting, but Bella didn't answer. She ran to the ferry dock and got on the last ferry to Kilrush, not even sure what she was doing.

"_Stop!" _the present Bella cried. _"You don't know what you've done!"_

"_It's no use, Bella," _Melia said sadly. _"She can't hear you. You just have to watch." _

The ferry docked on the mainland and Little Bella got out along with the other tourists who had come to see the new town. Realizing that she was stuck in the town until the morning, Bella almost started to cry. Then, she remembered she could just go back to the hospital and stay with Bethany and Melia. She began to walk up the street towards the hospital until she heard something.

"Are you okay, dear?" an elderly voice asked. It was an old woman standing by a bookstore.

"_No! Don't listen to her!" _the older Bella screamed, still trying to make her younger self listen.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm going to visit my friend at the hospital. She's really sick," Little Bella explained.

"Would your friend like a book?" the woman asked. "I'll let you have one."

"Sure," Bella said. She followed the strange woman into the store. Old dusty books covered the shelves.

"Just pick one, and I'll fix you a cup of tea," the stranger said with a smile. "What does your friend like to read about?"

"Mermaids," Bella answered truthfully without realizing it.

"Well, I have a few mermaid books." The elderly woman led Bella to a shelf. "I'll leave you to decide, all right?"

Bella nodded and looked at the books. She picked up the first one she saw and flipped to the table of contents. One chapter caught her eye. "_Mermaid Illnesses," _she read. Quickly, she turned to the chapter and skimmed until she found what she was looking for.

"_If a mermaid can't control her powers, she will become violently ill," _Bella read silently. _"The illness just depends on her power. If she can freeze water, she will feel cold that no amount of blankets can warm. The controlling power takes over her bloodstream and makes her weak while the boiling power causes uncontrollable fevers that only a mermaid with freezing powers can heal. A mermaid with the jelly power will have unusual sneezing and painful stomach aches. Usually, the mermaid will become better once she learns to control her power._

_But, if the mermaid has more than one water power, the illness will weaken her until she dies. The only way to save her life is to expose her to a moonpool during either the fifty year full moon or a solar eclipse. The moon will take away her ability to become a mermaid and her powers, healing her of the sickness."_

"Have you found something?" the woman asked as she came with a cup of tea.

"Yes," Bella said while holding up the book. The old woman smiled.

"_Mermaids: The Mystery of the Seas, _huh?" she said. "Sounds interesting."

"It is," Little Bella said. The older Bella who was floating above the conversation felt like she was drowning. That book had changed everything. Melia tugged on Bella's arm and took her to the next day.

The two girls were now standing in the little Melia's hospital room. The past Bella was sleeping in the chair beside her friend's bed, clutching Melia's hand. Outside the room, Bethany Clark was talking to her daughter's doctor.

"Are you sure there's nothing you can do?" she asked, trying to keep her composure.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Clark, but your daughter's sickness is like none we've ever seen. No amount of medication or treatments can heal her. She has about a week to live, unless you want to put her on life support."

"No," Bethany said firmly. "I do want her to die at home, though, in her own bed. Is that possible?"

"Yes, it is. We'll arrange for her transport at once. I'll have a nurse accompany you as well."

"Thank you, doctor," Bethany said tiredly. As soon as the doctor left, the heartbroken mother began to cry. Young Bella, who had heard the entire discussion, knew that it was time for her to save Melia. She had discovered that the next solar eclipse was in 24 hours, so she just had to get Melia out of her home and to the moonpool in time to save her life. Bella was sad that her best friend would have to give up being a mermaid forever, but at least she would live to be an old, old lady.

The present Bella and Melia teleported to the day that Bella had hated for years. _"Melia, please don't make me relive this," _Bella pleaded.

"_I'm sorry, Bella, but I have to." _Bella found herself in Melia's bedroom. Her friend was lying in her bed, a few tubes still in her.

"Bethany, can't I please see Melia?" Young Bella cried from the next room.

"Bella, don't you want to remember Melia for who she was, not a fragile girl only alive from a few medications?" Bethany asked.

"Besides, we can't have that child exposed to any more germs!" the nurse shrilled.

"She's my best friend! I have to see her!" Bella begged. "Please, Bethany! Melia will be dead in only a few days and I need to say goodbye to her while I still can!"

Bethany sighed. "I guess, Bella, but only for a few minutes, all right? I'll be in soon."

"Ms. Clark, who knows what diseases that girl has…" the nurse started as Bella went into the room that her older self was in.

Bethany cut her off. "That girl is Bella Hartley, my daughter's best friend. When we first moved here, it was Bella who brought Melia out of her shell. So, shut up and let her see her!"

Meanwhile, Bella was shaking Melia awake. "Get up, Melia!"

"Five more minutes, Mum," Melia muttered.

"Come on! I need to show you something!"

Melia opened a bleary eye. "Why? I'm sick, remember?"

"Just one last trip to the moonpool. For old times' sake."

"How are we supposed to get there? I can barely walk."

"Just let me take care of that. Come on, your mum will be here any moment!"

"I can't get out of bed, though! What about my medicines?"

Bella looked at the tubes snaking out of Melia's arms. "This will hurt," she said.

Melia nodded, a trusting look in her eyes. _A trust that I took away, _the present Bella thought.

Little Bella tore the tubes out as gently as she could. Melia bit her lip and clutched a pillow to her mouth to keep from crying out. Then, Bella supported Melia so they could climb out the window. They walked into the forest right as Bethany came in to tell Bella to leave. "Melia?" she called worriedly. "Bella?" She then noticed the open window and gasped.

"Amelia! Isabella!" she yelled over the wind that was picking up outside.

The two younger girls managed to make it down into the tunnel. Little Bella was sad about what she was about to do to her best friend. "I bet a soak in the pool will make you feel better, Melia," she suggested.

"I guess, Bella. But, the doctors don't know what's wrong with me. I'm just wasting away. I heard them say I only have a week to live."

Nineteen year old Bella watched with tears in her eyes as the solar eclipse grew closer. _"Melia, please stop it. I'm begging you," _she pleaded.

"_I'm sorry, Bella, but I can't."_

Just then, ten year old Melia was pushed into the pool by little Bella. Both the present Bella and Melia began crying: Bella because she had to watch herself "kill" Melia again; Melia because she was watching herself being sucked to another time.

The younger Bella then screamed and dove into the water after her friend, crying out in pain as soon as she hit the water. She swam underneath the surface, but all that was left was Melia's blue crystal necklace. Horrified, Bella reappeared holding the necklace in her hand. "What have I done?" she cried. "I killed Melia!" Furious, the young blond girl took off her crystal necklace and flung it into the water. Then, she placed Melia's necklace around her neck. "What am I going to do?" she sobbed.

Melia touched the present Bella's shoulder. _"Come on, let's go back." _Within moments, the two girls were standing in the present version of the Scattery Island moonpool.

"I feel a lot better," Bella admitted.

"I do, too," Melia agreed. "But, I still need you to do one last thing."

"What?" Bella groaned.

Melia smiled and dove into the moonpool. She came up with Bella's crystal necklace in her palm. "You need my necklace to save me, but I thought you might want yours back, too."

Bella took the necklace from Melia and put it around her neck. "I'll give you yours back when you're home."

"I'll miss you, Bell."

"You too, Melia." Melia then vanished into thin air. Bella held up her crystal and searched for a crystal in the cavern walls. Soon, she found a match. Using mining tools, she managed to cut it out of the rock. "There you are, you little rascal." She placed it in her purse and headed for the exit.

"Goodbye, old friend," she said to both Melia and the moonpool. Then, she climbed out the exit and went back towards the town. _One more down, guys! _

_**Aly's Note: Sorry that was so long, guys! But at least Bella has closure now and you all know about Bella and Melia's friendship! :) Now, onto Cleo!**_

~*O*~

Royan, France

July 7, 12:14 pm

Cleo adjusted her purse strap as she walked through the streets of the picturesque town. She was searching for an easy access to Serenity Island. She had thought about swimming, but the beaches were very public and she could be seen. Also, there were no boats out to the overgrown island. She was very close to pulling a Rikki and stealing a boat, which meant she was desperate.

As she was checking to make sure no one was around the speedboats on the docks, she bumped into a young girl. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," she apologized.

The girl brushed some of her raven black hair behind her ear. "It's okay," she said with an obvious French accent. "I wasn't looking where I was going." She leaned down to pick up Cleo's guidebook that she had dropped. "Are you a…how do you say…a tourist?"

"Yes," Cleo answered. "How did you know?"

The girl smiled. "Your guidebook, for starters. And your accent. It's not American, so I'm guessing either British or Australian."

"I'm from Australia," Cleo replied. "My name's Cleo." She stuck out a hand for the girl to shake.

The other girl took it and gave it a firm shake. "I'm Juliet Carmichael. Pleased to meet you, Cleo."

"Juliet…" Cleo trailed off. "Like Romeo and Juliet?"

Juliet laughed. "Unfortunately. My mother really liked Shakespeare. _Romeo and Juliet _was her favorite play."

"It's a pretty name," Cleo reassured her. "I really like it."

"Thanks," Juliet said with a smile. "A lot of people make fun of me for it. They call me 'Capulet'." _**Aly's Note: If you are one of the few people that haven't read Romeo and Juliet, Capulet is Juliet's last name in the play.**_

"That's kind of funny, but mean at the same time."

"Yeah…so, why are you in Royan, Cleo? Why venture over to our town?"

"I came for a vacation and it's really nice. Besides, I heard that there's a beautiful island around here. I believe it's called Serenity Island?"

Juliet's face grew pale for a moment before returning to its normal color. "Serenity Island? You want to go _there?_"

"Yes, I do," Cleo said firmly. "I need to go to that island. Do you know the fastest way over there?"

"I have a speedboat at my house," Juliet replied reluctantly. "I know the way over there and I can take you…for a price, of course."

Cleo smiled gratefully. "Of course I'll pay you! Thank you so much!"

The two girls walked down quaint streets before finally stopping in front of a nice beach house whose blue paint was bleached by the sun. Cleo followed Juliet up a wooden walk to a private beach behind the house. A sleek mint green speedboat awaited them. "This is the _Lily C,_" Juliet said proudly. "One of the fastest boats around." Cleo approached the boat tentatively, a little afraid of it. _What if water splashes on me while we're heading over there? _Cleo thought.

Juliet offered her hand to the brunette, helping her into the _Lily C. _"You can sit there," she said while pointing to a small bench in the back of the boat. Cleo gingerly sat down on the wooden surface, hoping that it wasn't damp. Luckily, it wasn't.

"So," Cleo started as Juliet pushed the boat out into the water and jumped in. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen," Juliet answered quickly as she looked up towards the sky. "Does it look like it's about to rain to you?"

"No, well maybe," Cleo responded nervously. _Please don't rain, _she begged.

The younger girl started up the motorboat. "Hang on!" she yelled over the powerful engine. The _Lily C. _went speeding across the water. Cleo soon found herself relaxing and enjoying the ride.

Just then, a drop of rain fell from the sky onto the boat, hitting Juliet's hand. She gasped and Cleo looked at her strangely. "Are you okay?" she asked with concern.

"Umm…" The raven-haired girl bit her lip. Then, she slipped and almost fell into the water! Cleo grabbed her arm.

"Juliet!" she cried. The other girl tried to pull away.

"Cleo, please," she pleaded. "Let go of me!" Then, she was surrounded by bubbles and her legs were replaced with a blue-green tail and scale bikini top.

Cleo's eyes grew wide. _She's a mermaid?_

Juliet's dark brown eyes spilled over with tears. "Please don't tell anyone!" she begged.

"Oh no, it's okay," Cleo explained. She deliberately dipped her hand in the sea. Ten seconds later, she was sitting at the bottom of the boat in a tail. Juliet screamed.

"You're one, too? I'm not alone?" She hugged Cleo happily. "I'm sorry, it's just…all these months, I thought I was the only one."

The older mermaid smiled. "It's okay. How long have you been one?"

"Since my sixteenth birthday almost seven months ago. December 16, to be exact. You?"

"This September will be four years."

"You've been one for four years? How did you turn?"

"My friends Rikki, Emma, and I went for a joyride on a boat and wrecked on Mako Island when we ran out of fuel. We ended up falling into a cave and finding a moonpool. The three of us jumped in to try to escape and the moon rose over the cave. The next day, we all grew tails."

Juliet seemed to ponder this. "So, you have other friends like us?"

"Yes, I have six, actually. Emma, Rikki, Bella, Natalie, Andrea, and Ashley. Ashley's more like our guardian angel, though."

The younger girl had a starry-eyed look. "I wish I could have friends like you, Cleo. You're lucky."

"How did you become one of us, Juliet?" Cleo asked.

"I had a big argument with my mother on my birthday and ended up taking the speedboat out to cool off. Then, it ran out of fuel and floated to Serenity Island. I didn't have my cell phone and was scared to death. I began wandering aimlessly around the island, searching for someone to help me. Eventually, I fell down a hole into a strange cave with a crystal blue pool in the middle. Hoping to find an escape route, I dove into the freezing cold water. The water glowed and bubbled as soon as I entered the pool. Feeling around the bottom, I found a white crystal that glowed in my hand. I passed out once I looked at it.

The next morning, I woke up in the hospital. The police said that they had found me in the ocean, half frozen. I went to take a shower and grew a tail. I yelled and my mother saw me. She's the only one that knows."

"But, wasn't there a full moon that night?"

"No, it happened when I dove into the pool. It changed me when I found the crystal." Juliet pulled a white crystal cross pendant hanging on a silver chain from underneath her shirt. (She had dried off by then.) "This is the crystal that I found. My mother made it into a necklace so it wouldn't be suspicious."

Cleo took off her blue crystal necklace and held it up to Juliet's. The two crystals pulled towards each other like magnets. "Incredible," she whispered. "Juliet, can you help me find more of these crystals?"

"Of course!" Juliet answered. "But, why?"

"My friend Emma is in big trouble and I need a crystal from your moonpool to save her. Is it okay if I have one?"

"Yeah! Here, hold on!" Juliet started up the motor again and the _Lily C. _took off to Serenity Island. "So, what powers do you have?"

"I can control water, create wind and thunderstorms, see another mermaid's power when she's not around, and I have telepathy. You?"

"I can create water, control the weather with my moods, and I have telekinesis. Watch!" Juliet stared at an oil can and it lifted off the ground.

"That's so cool!" Cleo said. "And you can control the weather with your moods? That seems difficult."

"Yeah, it is. I try not to be angry or sad a lot, since it will either rain or thunderstorm. One time, I was so mad at my mom, I accidentally created a typhoon! That was really bad."

"Have you learned to control it?"

"Basically. Oh, we're here!" Juliet hopped out of the boat and she and Cleo pulled it way up on the beach. "The moonpool's this way." The twosome walked into a dense forest.

"What do you do for fun?" Cleo asked.

"I race the _Lily C. _in our town's version of a regatta, except we use speedboats in place of sailboats. I usually kick butt on it."

"You really are good at English."

"Thanks! My mother is an American, so I was taught both English and French growing up. Madeleine says I'm an excellent student."

"Who's Madeleine?"

"Umm…she's my adoptive mother." Juliet seemed to reply with a bit of embarrassment.

"Your adoptive mother?" Cleo asked gently, not wanting to pry.

"Yes, but I don't want to talk about it. Oh, here's the entrance!" The raven-haired girl pointed to a hole in the ground in front of them. She leaped inside, disappearing underneath the earth. Cleo followed her, finding herself in a tunnel. "Come on!" Juliet yelled faintly. Cleo hurried down the tunnel and entered inside a cavern that seemed to glow with magic.

"What's going on?" Cleo yelled.

Juliet looked at her strangely. "Doesn't your moonpool always do this?"

"No," Cleo admitted.

The black haired girl shrugged her shoulders and waved her crystal necklace towards the sparkling wall. It seemed drawn to it at once. Juliet smiled and stuck her hand _inside the stone._ Cleo was shocked. It was like the rock was made of water or something. Juliet's hand came out of the stone holding a white crystal. "Here you go," she said as she handed it to Cleo.

"How did you…"

"Stick my hand in the wall? I used my telekinesis to open up the stone. Really simple to do. Now, when do you have to leave?"

"My flight takes off tomorrow afternoon at 4:30."

"Well, how about you sleep over at my place? Madeleine won't mind."

"Okay, sounds good to me." The two girls dove in the magic pool, transforming into mermaids. Juliet smiled at Cleo, her brown eyes sparkling with mischief. Cleo couldn't help but notice that Juliet's eyes seemed familiar somehow. She just couldn't place where she had seen them before…

_**Yay, end of chapter 13! :) Well, I believe that this is my most detailed chapter yet! Hope that I didn't bore you with Bella and Melia's past, but I wanted Bella to stop moping about the past and to stay in the present. Also, I hope that you all like Juliet! (She'll be in the next chapter, too.) Juliet will be a main character in H2O: Just Add Survival 4 & 5 as well! Don't worry, I'll mention Emma, Melia, and Eva in the next chapter. I just didn't want this chapter to be extremely long and boring.**_

_**So, next chapter will be the last "world traveling" chapter. It will involve Nat's adventure in Spain and Andrea's in Japan! I wonder what will happen…who knows! And, who do you all think Juliet reminds Cleo of? I will say that the person Cleo thinks she is like has been mentioned in this story. **_

_**Also, I changed the picture of Melia on my profile because the girl I used to use kind of had a creepy smile. The new picture is of the same girl, but it looks more like how I imagine Melia. Juliet has a picture, too!**_

_**Okay, this is the last paragraph, I promise! :) I have decided what the H2O: Just Add Survival anniversary oneshot will be! I am going to write a prequel to the series. It will talk about Emma's return, the journey up until the crash, and introduce Natalie and Andrea. So, look out for H2O: Just Add Survival: Changing Tides on August 23! It will be a threeshot, probably. Keep on reviewing, guys! **_


	16. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Barcelona, Spain

July 8, 8:01 am

_**Aly's Note: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, guys! It makes me so happy to read them all! :) I'd like to apologize to PinkMermaid, though, because I unknowingly used her title for my prequel! I'm so sorry! What do you all think about H2O: Just Add Survival: Winds of Change instead? **_

_**Now, onto the next chapter!**_

Natalie yawned as she entered her rental car. Traveling to Spain was the pits. First, she had to spend the night in a cruddy motel in New York that didn't have WiFi. Then, she waited forever to get on her plane since she accidentally left her locket in her jean pocket, causing her to get searched at the airport. Finally, there had been so much turbulence on the way over, she had barely slept.

Now, she was driving to her hotel for a few hours of sleep before going to Isla de Las Perdidas, or Island of the Lost. Nat was a little creeped out by the name, but figured maybe the island was named that to make people not want to go to it.

As soon as Natalie went into her hotel room, she leaped onto the soft bed, moaning in relief. "Finally," she breathed.

_The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out…_her phone sang.

"Good Lord, who wants me now?" Natalie groaned as she grabbed the glitzed up phone, not even looking at the caller ID. "What?" she barked.

"Natalie?" It was Alex. _OH CRAP!_

"Um, Alex, nice to hear from you," Nat said in a cheery voice.

"Nat, where is Andrea? And where are you?" Alex sounded ticked. "You've been missing for a whole month!"

"Uh, Alex, I can't hear you." Natalie faked a static sound. "You're going out." Then, she hung up. "Phew, that was close." She couldn't let Alex know where she was. Besides, he would be really mad if he knew that Andrea wasn't with her and that she couldn't come home because an evil scientist was chasing them around the world. And, why, he would ask? Natalie couldn't really well say that she was a mermaid. Heck, then he would call the cops on her and say that she was crazy!

Her phone beeped again. It was a voicemail from Alex. _Great, I finally get a place with service and _he _has to call me!_ She pressed the button to hear the message.

"_Nat, I don't know what's going on with you, but you need to come home. I'm beginning to think that letting Andrea live with you was a bad idea. I mean, this is the second time in a year that you've disappeared! If you get this message, you need to go back to San Francisco right away. When you get here, be ready to give up guardianship to Andrea for good. Bye."_

Natalie listened to the dial tone for a minute, completely in shock. _Give up guardianship to Andrea? Heck no! Alex can go bite a pretzel because I'm not letting my friends down! _

Too angry to take a nap, Nat left her hotel room and started to drive to the Island of the Lost. All of a sudden, a young girl darted in front of her car. Natalie screamed and swerved to avoid hitting her, knocking her car into the ditch on the side of the road instead. The air bag exploded in her face, knocking her unconscious. The last thing she remembered was someone banging on her window…

~*O*~

Royan, France

July 8, 9:16 am

"Cleo, wake up," a familiar voice called. Cleo groaned in her sleep. _Can't I get a good night's sleep for once?_

"Leave me alone, Juliet," she muttered.

Just then, water splashed all over her. Cleo gasped and sat up, transforming into a mermaid. Juliet was laughing on the other bed. "Good morning!" she said perkily.

Cleo wasn't amused. She was like Rikki; she needed coffee before she could function normally. "Where's the coffee?" she asked.

"Downstairs," Juliet answered. "Come on, I'll show you." Cleo controlled the water into a ball off herself and tossed it into an empty glass on the nightstand. Then, she followed the younger girl downstairs.

A quaint, bright yellow kitchen awaited them. Cleo made a beeline to the coffeemaker while Juliet got a pitcher of orange juice from the fridge. Both girls silently made a quick breakfast of toast, bacon, eggs, and pastries before settling down at the table. "So," Juliet said. "Where are going after you leave Royan?"

"Los Angeles," Cleo replied. "Then our private island. Where's Madeleine at?" Cleo had met Juliet's adoptive mother the night before briefly. The woman was a little flustered that her daughter had brought a strange girl into their home, but quickly made Cleo feel at home.

"She's at work in her jewelry store," Juliet responded. "She won't be back until five."

"Oh," Cleo said. "How long have you lived here?"

"Since I was two," the girl replied quietly. "Before then I lived in Boston, Massachusetts. That's in America. I was born there."

"Why did you move to France?" Cleo implored, hoping that she wasn't prying.

"My birth mother, Lily Carmichael, was also adopted as a baby and wanted to find her birth family. I was kind of an unwanted baby since my mother had sex with her boyfriend at nineteen. I was the result. Lily thought I would be in her way since she had to go to California to look for her birth mother. So, she brought me to Royan."

"But, why France?" Cleo asked, perplexed. "Wouldn't her adopted parents be a better option?"

"No, because they're dead. My grandma died of cancer and my grandpa of a broken heart shortly before I was born. Lily had been a foreign exchange student in France during high school and thought Madeleine would be a better parent. And she was."

"So, your mother just dropped you off in France? Isn't that child neglect or something?"

Juliet looked angry. "My mother may have made some bad decisions, but she's not stupid. First of all, she told Madeleine we were coming ahead of time. Second of all, she rang the doorbell when we arrived and ran away right before Madeleine answered the door. She left a note on me that said that she would come back to get me when she found her family. That was fourteen years ago. Madeleine officially adopted me when I was three since Lily hadn't called or anything. The courts said it was perfectly legal."

"Has she called in all these years?"

"Only once on my thirteenth birthday. She said that she was getting closer to finding her birth parents. According to her, her father's name was Thomas. She hadn't found her mother yet." Juliet paused for a moment. "It really ticks me off though. I mean, she practically abandoned me and has only called once! Doesn't she care about her only daughter? Does she not want me to suffer the same fate as her?" She sighed and rubbed her temples. "That's what the argument was about the night I turned into a mermaid. I was trying to get Madeleine to let me go to America to search for Lily. But, she wouldn't let me."

Cleo was a little shell-shocked at Juliet's story. "It sounds like you've had a tough life."

"Yeah, I guess I have. But, I've survived, at least." Juliet bit her lip and looked at Cleo, her somehow familiar eyes boring holes in her through her glasses. "Cleo, you have to take me with you to Los Angeles. Maybe I can finally find my mother and learn more about being a mermaid. Please?" she begged.

"Juliet, I can't," Cleo said, struggling to get the words out. "I have to get back to Sirena Island at once. And, an evil scientist is after us, just waiting to capture and experiment on me and my friends. Second of all, my friend Emma is trapped in the past and is quickly running out of time. I'm in a race against time right now, and I'm afraid that I can't take you with me. Most likely, you could get kidnapped, too, and I couldn't live with that." Cleo took a Post-It note off the table and scribbled her cell phone number on it. "Feel free to call me anytime about mermaid questions or if you just need to talk. But, I have to go."

Cleo quickly grabbed her bags and ran towards the door. "Wait!" Juliet cried. "I have so many questions for you! And, I want to help you! You need me!"

The brunette girl had already run outside towards her car. Throwing her bags in the backseat, she hopped in the driver's seat and turned the key. Juliet came out of the house, sprinting in bare feet. "Cleo, wait, please! I want to help you!"

Cleo forced herself to look away from Juliet's pleading eyes and floored it, hurrying away from the beach house. Meanwhile, the raven-haired girl sat on the curb and cried. "She could've helped me learn the truth about myself," Juliet whispered. "Maybe I could've finally learned who my birth family really is."

Inside her rental car, Cleo tried not to think about the French girl. _She's just a girl wanting adventure. She couldn't have been able to survive both Denman and stopping the comet._ Quietly, she opened her cell phone and looked at the photo Juliet had taken of them both on Serenity Island. She then realized in shock who Juliet reminded her of.

"Ashley?" she whispered. The brown eyes filled with compassion, the quiet smile when she spoke, even the way her forehead wrinkled when she was thinking! Juliet Celia Carmichael could've been a spitting image of Ashley Hamilton! "It can't be," Cleo said. "Besides, Ashley's dead now. It wouldn't help Juliet one bit." She focused on driving away from Royan. _I can't think about this now. I have to focus on saving Emma and the world._

~*O*~

_Scattery Island, Ireland_

_July 8, 1740_

Eva and Melia watched Emma worriedly as she slept. The older girl had barely moved for hours. Now, the sun was setting and Emma still was unconscious. Then, Emma opened an eye. "Where am I?" she whispered. "What happened?"

"You decided to take a swim in the bay," Melia replied with a laugh.

"And you're in my room," Eva put in.

"Oh," Emma said. Then, she realized what had been revealed. "You saw my tail, didn't you?"

"Yes," Eva said primly. "But, it's okay. Melia and I are mermaids, too. You have nothing to worry about."

"Well, that's good," Emma replied with a sigh. "I'm glad that you won't expose me or anything."

"Besides, we need you," Melia interrupted. "Remember, Eva? The tentacle?"

"Oh, yes!" Eva cried. "You see, there's this tentacle made of water that's been terrorizing me and Melia over the past couple of months. We finally gave into it and it revealed that a comet is heading towards Earth. According to what we know, the comet will destroy Ireland in five days. It's our duty as mermaids to defeat it. Do you want to help us?"

"Of course!" Emma answered. "It would be an honor to save Ireland from a comet. But, how will we destroy it?"

"We will create a 'tower of light' using our powers," Eva said. "We found out from the tentacle. It will help us, too, but it will be mostly on us to defeat the comet. You can't tell anyone though, all right? I don't want to frighten anybody and cause a riot."

"I won't," Em said firmly. "You can count on me."

"Good," Melia said with a grin. "Now, let's get some sleep. It will be a long few days." Melia and Eva told Emma goodnight and left for the loft. Emma couldn't sleep though as she was thinking of Ash. She hadn't seen him in so long, and now she was separated from him again!

"I love you, Ash," she whispered. Then, she softly began to sing "their song". It was "You Belong to Me" by the Duprees. It was an oldie, but they loved it anyway.

_See the pyramids along the Nile_

_Watch the sunrise from a tropic isle_

_Just remember darling, all the while_

_You belong to me_

_See the marketplace in old Algiers_

_Send me photographs and souvenirs_

_Just remember when a dream appears_

_You belong to me_

_And I'll be so alone without you_

_Maybe you'll be lonesome too_

_Fly the ocean in a silver plane_

_See the jungle when it's wet with rain_

_Just remember 'til you're home again_

_You belong to me…_

~*O*~

Barcelona, Spain

July 9, 7:45 am

Hospital monitors beeped incessantly, making Natalie feel like someone was driving a jackhammer in her ear. _Wait, a hospital? _Nat's eyes flew open. She was lying in a hospital bed, wearing one of those thin hospital gowns. "Oh, you're awake!" Nat turned towards the voice and found a young girl sitting in a chair beside her bed. But, not just any girl. It was the girl that she had almost run over.

"Who are you?" Natalie asked.

"I'm Rosella Garcia Sanchez," the light brown haired girl said. "But you can call me Rosie if you want. And you're Natalia, right?"

"Uh, no," Nat replied. "I'm Nata_lie_. You know, with a 'lie'. Why did you think my name was Natalia?"

"After the accident yesterday-"

"Yesterday? I've lost a whole day already!"

"Just calm down. Like I was saying, I ran over to your car (Thanks for not running me over, by the way) and managed to break your window. I asked you your name and you said, 'Nat'. I thought it meant Natalia. That's a common Spanish name around here. I had no idea your name was Natalie."

"Well, my name is Natalie DeGrand. Nice to meet you, Rosie. Now, you need to get me the heck out of here, okay?"

"But, you have a concussion!"

"I don't care, all right? I need to get to La Isla de Las Peridias straight away. Do you know the fastest way there?"

Rosie seemed shocked at the auburn American who was yelling at her. "I do, but it involves sea kayaking. Can you kayak?"

"Yeah. Just get me out of here!"

"How?" Rosie asked, confused.

"Watch the door while I get my clothes, okay?" Rosella complied and stood by the door to Natalie's room. Nat quickly pulled the tubes giving her different medications out of her arms and threw on the clothes that she had worn yesterday. Then, she deftly braided her auburn hair into a thick braid and hurried to the door, yanking Rosie with her. "Come on!"

The two girls got out of the hospital easily and soon found themselves outside the front entrance. "The docks are this way," Rosie said while pointing east. "Follow me."

Natalie soon was sprinting after the slender girl as they headed to the ocean. When they got to the docks, Rosella talked to a Spanish man who rented them two sea kayaks. Nat gingerly entered hers, not wanting to flip it and get wet. Rosie followed suit and soon both girls were paddling towards the island. "So, why do you guys call this island 'The Island of the Lost'?" Natalie asked.

"Well, there's this old legend about these four girls that were best friends in the 1700's," Rosie explained. "Apparently, these girls decided to explore that island, which no one remembers its old name. They took a rowboat and began rowing out to the island. But, a terrible storm broke out that afternoon with high winds and heavy rains. Nobody was even able to search for them until the following morning. All that anyone found was the overturned rowboat floating near the island."

"But, the girls could've swam, right?" Nat put in.

"Two of them could swim," Rosie continued. "But, the dresses back then were very heavy and as soon as the girls hit the water, their dresses would've dragged them to the bottom of the sea. They didn't have a chance. In honor of their lost daughters, the four girls' parents named the island 'The Island of the Lost' and forbid anyone from going to it. We're actually breaking the law right now."

"Well, you did break me out of the hospital today already," Nat replied. "So, what's one more broken law?"

"Why do you even need to go out there?"

"I actually can't tell you."

Rosie stopped paddling. "If you don't tell me why, I won't go any further."

Nat scoffed. "So?"

"So…while you try to make your way over to the island through the unpredictable currents and winds, I'll paddle back to the docks and alert the harbormaster, who will call the police and they will come out here and arrest you for trespassing. Sound good?"

"Not if I can help it!" In a burst of adrenaline, Natalie flipped Rosella's kayak and continued on, paddling as fast as she could. _I feel awful for doing it, but I can't tell her the reason why I'm here! First of all, it would reveal the moonpool on the island and I'd probably have to explain that I'm a mermaid. Not happening! _

All of a sudden, the sky began to cloud. _Oh, crap. _Then, Natalie's paddle was practically ripped out of her hand by an unseen current. Finally, even though Nat tried to stay afloat, her kayak was flipped and her paddle came back and hit her on the back of the head, making the world go black. And, if that wasn't bad enough, Nat was still trapped in her capsized kayak, tangled in the lines.

~*O*~

Pain was what brought Natalie down to earth. Exploding, bursting pain that was almost burning the back of her skull. She opened her eyes and found herself floating on her back in water. "Oh, gosh, my head," she muttered.

"Good, you're finally awake." It was Rosie. Natalie instantly tried to cover her tail, even though she knew internally it was too late.

"Where am I?" she managed to say, starting to swim around the pool of water she was in. It looked like she was in a moonpool, but it was darker and kind of normal looking.

Rosie walked into the cavern. "You're in the Island of the Lost moonpool. Well, what's left of it, that is." She handed Nat a cup of some sort of strange liquid. "Drink that, it will help your head."

Nat took it gingerly and sniffed it. "What is it?"

"It's an herbal remedy for headaches. Just drink it, it's not poisonous. I should poison you for what you did to me, though."

Natalie blushed. "I'm sorry. So, are you a mermaid or what?"

Rosie sighed. "Unfortunately I'm not. This moonpool is very old, as you can tell. But, most of its magic was destroyed when greed came to a young girl who discovered it. She and her brother stole many crystals from it and the moonpool was damaged greatly. It can no longer transform a normal girl into a mermaid anymore. But, it did give me some abilities when I found it."

"Like what?"

"Well, I can breathe underwater for a long period of time, about three hours. And, I received all four water powers: freezing, controlling, boiling, and jellifying water. But, I cannot turn into a mermaid."

"That's so sad," Nat replied. She could almost feel the pain that the moonpool had experienced. The Mako Island moonpool was like that now, according to Cleo, Bella, and Rikki. Ever since Sophie, Zane, and Ryan tried to mine the moonpool's crystals, it had lost most of its magic. "So, that's how you saved me?"

"Yes. I saw your canoe tip over and managed to drag you to the pool. Now, you owe me twice for saving your life."

Natalie grinned. "Just put it on my tab. Is there any crystals left?"

"There is, but they're extremely hard to find without mining equipment. And I'm not going to let you harm anything in this cave. Why do you need one, anyway?"

"My friend Emma got transported into the past during a lunar eclipse a few days ago," Nat told her. "And the only way to save her is by getting a crystal from five different moonpools. I was sent to get one from yours. Can I please have one?"

Rosie bit her lip and Nat could tell that she was torn between protecting her moonpool and saving an innocent girl's life. "Here, Natalie." Rosella pulled a rosy pink crystal hanging on a string from underneath her top. "Take my crystal to save your friend."

"No, Rosie, I can't."

"Yes, you will. You need a crystal and I'm giving you one. Please take it." She held out the necklace to Nat. Quietly, Nat took it and placed it around her own neck to protect it.

"Thank you, Rosella," she said softly.

"You're welcome, Natalie. Now, you need to go. Your friends are waiting for you."

Nat nodded and waved before ducking under the surface and swimming towards land. _Hang on, Emma, only one more left._

~*O*~

Tokyo, Japan

July 8, 11:04 pm

Andrea struggled to keep from falling asleep as she followed Rikki out of the airport. They had lost a day via the International Date Line, so now they were running late. "Come on, Andrea!" Rikki yelled as she ran towards the entrance. "We've got to get to our hotel!"

"Rikki, I'm sorry, but I need some form of caffeine because I am about to pass out right here in the airport! Is there a Starbucks around somewhere?"

The older girl turned around and looked at her almost with sympathy. "Sorry, Andrea, but we need to get to our hotel to get some rest. I promise to buy you whatever caffeine, sugar and calorie filled drink you want in the morning, okay?"

"Isn't it already morning?" Andrea muttered. The two girls were still on edge from their experiences in Hawaii. First, Andrea had almost been killed by that May girl. Then, they had had to spend the night in their rental car because they were too afraid to stay on the island in case May woke up and got a posse of her mermaid friends together to attack them while they slept. Also, Rikki was too cheap to get a hotel room, so Andrea had to make do with sleeping on the folded down backseat.

Rikki got the rental car and Andrea almost collapsed getting into it. Rikki actually had to shake her awake when they got to the hotel. It was really nice; a _ryokan_ is what Rikki called it. Basically, it was a traditional Japanese inn. The staff was kind and one of the bellhops even offered to carry Andrea to their room since she was falling asleep on her feet. But, both girls managed to make it into the room safely.

There were two futons in the room, so each girl had her own bed. Andrea just fell onto her bed, shoes and all. Rikki took a bath and put on fresh clothes before finally falling asleep.

The next morning, Andrea and Rikki woke up around nine and thanked the hotel staff before heading next door to (yep, you guessed it) a Starbucks. Rikki got a Peppermint Mocha Steamer and oatmeal with dried fruit on top. Andrea opted for a blueberry muffin along with a Cinnamon Dolce Latte. Then, they hopped in their rental car and headed east to the town of Chiba.

The island that they were searching for was called Starlight Island in English. (Neither Rikki nor Andrea could really write or speak Japanese very well.) "This time, we're going in together," Rikki said as she drove.

"Why?" Andrea asked. "You were the one who ended up beating May last time. I barely helped you at all."

"That's the point," Rikki explained. "I don't know if you can handle yourself being all alone in the moonpool in case you're attacked by another mermaid. I'm going to be in there with you just in case."

"Fine," Andrea huffed. "But I still want to get the crystal by myself."

"Fine," Rikki agreed. They didn't talk for the rest of the journey. Once they reached the town's docks, Rikki somehow managed to get a worker to let them rent a boat to get them out to the island. Rikki drove of course, even though Andrea thought that Rikki would kill them. (She had heard Natalie's version of both chases, and you know how dramatic Nat can be.)

The girls pulled the boat onto the island's beach and quietly began searching for a hidden cave. After three hours of fruitless searching, they still hadn't found anything. "What the heck?" Rikki muttered under her breath. "Where is this stupid thing?"

"I don't know," Andrea replied as she sat down next to a spring that had a waterfall pouring into it. "Maybe we're on the wrong island."

"No, this is it," Rikki said. "All the research we did on strange weather phenomena and other odd things points to this island. I just don't know where the moonpool could be…" She trailed off when she saw the strange bluish tint of the spring. "Andrea, don't move."

"Why?" Andrea asked, a little frightened. "What is it?"

"I think we've found our moonpool." Rikki walked towards the rock wall that the waterfall was pouring over. Quickly, she held up her hand like she had when she had almost hurt Ryan that one time. The wall began to glow in a lavender light. "Yes, this is a moonpool." She started to melt the wall when all of a sudden, a tentacle grabbed her by the neck and pulled her underneath the surface. Andrea screamed.

"Rikki!" she shrieked, turning around to face whatever mermaid was awaiting her. There was no one around. "Where are you?" she yelled angrily. "Show yourself!"

Just then, a pool of water grew out of the water on the opposite shore and a young Japanese girl appeared out of it. "Hello, you trespasser," the girl answered. "My name is Reiko."

"I'm Andrea," Andrea said firmly. "But enough with the small talk. What did you do to my friend?"

Reiko laughed and dissolved into water again. She appeared in front of Andrea. "Why do you wish to know? Your friend was tampering with my magic pool. That is enough evidence for me to kill her."

Andrea glared at the girl. "If you did, you'll be joining her."

"Not if you do first!" Reiko dissolved and tried to grab Andrea by the waist. Andrea sidestepped her and attempted to explode the girl. Instead, she managed to blow a finger off the girl. Reiko appeared as a girl again, blood trickling from her severed finger. "That was a bad move, Andrea-san." She turned back into water and rushed at Andrea. The blond girl screamed and ducked, causing Reiko to splatter against the rock wall. _Come on, Rikki! I need you!_ Andrea cried.

Reiko formed back together in the pool and smiled evilly at Andrea. "You have spirit, Andrea-san. I admire that in you. But, you trespassed on my island and tore off my finger. You will have to go away." Reiko then turned into ice projectiles and threw herself at Andrea. The younger girl exploded a water "shield" at them, throwing them in the opposite direction. _I have to wait until she turns into water, then just explode her. She's already hurt Rikki, and who knows how many other people she's killed from 'trespassing' on her pool._

The Japanese girl stared Andrea down. "I used to be like you, full of spirit. Then, miners attempted to harvest the crystals from my pool and drained most of my magic. I can only turn into water, not become a mermaid."

"Tough luck," Andrea said, holding her hand at ready.

Reiko screamed something in Japanese and threw herself at Andrea as a ball of water. Andrea closed her eyes and exploded it. There was a scream, then silence. Andrea opened her eyes to see numerous lavender sparkles floating into the pool, making it glow and bubble.

"Rikki!" she screamed as she dove underneath the surface. The whole pool was glowing brightly, so Andrea could see Rikki lying unconscious as a mermaid on the bottom of the pool. Andrea grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the surface.

"Come on, Rikki, wake up!" Andrea pleaded. "I can't be the cause of your death! Nat's already been saying that I'm going to end up killing someone! I don't want it to come true! Besides, if you're gone, there won't be anyone interesting to talk to. I mean, Nat's been acting like my mom, Cleo's all freaked out about Emma, and Bella keeps going on about Melia! You're the only one that still acts normal! So, come on, please wake up."

Just then, Rikki's eyes opened and she grinned. "It's nice to know that I'd be missed," she said with a smile.

Andrea was mortified. "You mean, you've been awake this whole time?"

Rikki nodded. "You said that you wanted to get the crystal yourself. I wanted to see what you could do. And, I don't think that you actually killed that girl. See, look over there."

Andrea obeyed and saw Reiko lying in the forest, knocked out cold. "More than likely, you just threw her into a tree," Rikki explained. "It looked pretty cool, though."

"Let's just get the crystal and get out of here," Andrea said tiredly. Rikki boiled a lavender crystal out of the rock wall and both girls ran to their boat, not wanting Reiko to wake up and try to kill them again. In a few hours, they were in the air, heading back to L.A.

~*O*~

Sydney, Australia

_Mystic Blue_

July 9, 6:23 am

Linda Denman stood on the deck of her new boat, _Mystic Blue._ It was a beautiful yacht, but it also was extremely fast. According to Dr. Stevens, it could get them to the coordinates of the secret island in only five days rather than almost two weeks.

Dr. Denman was excited. In only a few days, she would get her revenge on all six of the mermaids. Most of it was focused on Emma, Rikki, and Cleo, though. First, they had fooled her into believing that they weren't mermaids anymore. Then, Rikki had almost boiled her alive. It would be fun to watch them scream for mercy.

Also, she was happy to be able to capture Andrea again. Andrea had been the first mermaid that many people knew about. Unfortunately, most of those people were dead, having been killed during the Sirena Island battle. But, Andrea wasn't going to escape her this time.

"Are you ready to shove off, Dr. Denman?" Dr. Stevens implored. "The crew is ready when you are."

"Of course I'm ready," Denman said with an icy grin. "I've been ready for four years."

_**Yay, this chapter is done! I wanted to get it out today because I'm going to be busy for this whole week and I won't have access to a computer or Internet. So, I hope that you all enjoyed it! I'm really hoping to complete this story with 19 or 20 chapters including the sneak peek to H2O: JAS 3. **_

_**So, what did you all think of the world traveling? Pretty cool, right? Bella finally got closure, Nat managed to almost kill herself twice, Cleo met a girl who reminds her of Ashley, and Rikki and Andrea got to kick some mermaid butt! :)**_

_**Oh, I'd also like to thank Marril96 for coming up with Reiko awhile ago when I was talking to her about the world traveling adventure. Thanks so much!**_

_**Now, what will happen next for our mermaids? Well, Denman is heading to Sirena with an all new team, (let's go sink her boat, guys!) the girls are traveling back to their island, and Emma, Melia, and Eva are preparing for the first comet. What will happen in these next chapters? Only I know, and if I tell you, I'll have to kill you! :) Just kidding, guys! Keep on reviewing so I'll keep writing! Ciao, mis amigos!**_


	17. Dear H2O fans

Dear H2O: JAS readers,

I apologize profusely for not updating sooner, but I need your help. Someone has taken H2O: Just Add Survival and uploaded it word for word on the website QuoteV. It is not me and I'm very upset and mad about it. Please help me out by reporting the story and saying that it was posted by me in 2010 on . I am working on Chapter 15 of H2O: Just Add Survival 2 as a reward. I am so, so, so sorry for forgetting about you guys. Please forgive me. I just don't want to publish anything new until that story is down. So please give a girl a hand and report that story. The title is H2O: Just Add Survival and the "author" is Jazz the Wild Spirit. Thank you so much for supporting me and helping! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Alyssa Holloway


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